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January 14, 2011
January 14, 2011
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The Great Persian Firewall

Via Cyrus Farivar, we learn that The Tor Project is reporting that the "Great Persian Firewall" is preventing people in Iran from connecting to circumvention tools such as Tor. The Tor Project reports:
Over the past 48 hours it seems the Great Persian Firewall is updating to attempt to block a number of circumvention tools, including Tor. Iranians and their diaspora have been reporting to us that Tor, Hot Spot Shield, UltraSurf, and Freegate are all experiencing connectivity problems from inside Iran to the outside world.
Read more on their site.
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January 6, 2011
January 6, 2011
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Tragic suicide

Hamid Dabashi comments on the suicide of Alireza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Iran and the second of his children to take his own life, in a post on CNN.
Like other young Iranians, the late Alireza Pahlavi and before him his late younger sister, Leila Pahlavi, who also committed suicide in London in 2001, must have wanted to be a source of good for their homeland. There is no reason to doubt that possibility no matter what our politics might be. But historical circumstances and the ending of monarchy in Iran did not allow that to happen, and in exile the former queen and her four children have not been able to find a viable way of having a positive impact in their homeland.
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January 4, 2011
January 4, 2011
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Hivos Concerned about Treatment of Peaceful Activists

Hivos expresses concern about the conviction of two women held for six months simply for collecting signatures as part of the one-million signature campaign, a campaign to change Iran's discriminatory laws against women. This is the first time that the judiciary has convicted activists simply for collecting signatures. Shadi Sadr, a well known women's rights activist and the lawyer for the two women, Fatemeh Masjedi and Maryam Bidgoli said: "It is important for all of us to take action to stop the Judiciary of Qom to imprison women’s rights activists. If we let them to do as they wish, sentencing of the rest of women’s rights activist will become easier."Read more here.
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December 30, 2010
December 30, 2010
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“Confessions of Prisoners not Valid”

The Financial Times reports that Grand Ayatollah Hossein Vahid Khorasani has told his students that the confessions of prisoners are not valid in courts of law. “Confessions of prisoners have no validity, and if a judge uses confessions for issuing verdicts that judge is no longer qualified,” he said. This stance is a direct challenge to both the Supreme Leader and the judiciary. In the past years, the judiciary has meted out harsh sentences and even execution orders for prisoners who have confessed under threat and torture.
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December 26, 2010
December 26, 2010
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Iranian-Kurdish Law Student’s Execution Stayed

The execution of Habibollah Latifi has been stayed. His sister reports that many demonstrators showed up to protest the execution, "Security forces have threatened the demonstrators [and told them] to disperse, but [this]was not accepted by the people until they were told about the suspension of the sentence by a Sanandaj prison official." The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reports on a meeting between Latifi's lawyers and the judiciary.
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December 26, 2010
December 26, 2010
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Rising Prices Hurt in Iran

The Washington Post reports on the economic situation in Iran. Many complain of restrictions that prevent them from raising their own fees to address the effects of rising prices resulting from the end of subsidies.
"I never heard the government give money to the people. My dad and granddad also never saw such a thing," said the driver of a dilapidated orange Mack truck. "When they give away money like this, it means we are in trouble. The fuel price rises are only the beginning, I fear."
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December 25, 2010
December 25, 2010
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Interview with Sister of Habibolah Latifi

Masih Alinejad's interview with the sister of Iranian-Kurdish prisoner of conscience, Habibolah Latifi can be read over at EA WorldView. His sister reports, "My parents are elderly and I don’t dare give them the news regarding my brother’s execution, therefore they are still unaware of the news. I myself am not in a good situation either, but I have pursued his case until now, and will continue doing so."Habibolah Latifi is one of many Iranian-Kurds accused of capital crimes. Last May, four were executed, despite evidence that they were innocent. Amnesty International and United4Iran have letter-writing campaigns to protest the planned execution.
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