17 teen year old Iranian student beaten severly, and others.

This piece is a report of the account of a 17 year old Iranian student who was arrested, with other, who were not in the protest, and beaten and tortured. The photographs in the article are disturbing in the clearness of the violence and brutality that they portray.

Click the title of this post to read the full article and see the photographs.

June 24, 2009 | The pictures you are about to see are not from someone who supports anarchy, he is not even a part of the "DUST" that Ahmadinejad called his opponents. He is just a 17-year-old boy who was supposed to take the university entrance exam within a month before his fingers were broken and the finger webs were cut with a blade. He was arrested violently in the parking lot of a living complex without even taking part in any of the recent activities, and after more than 24 hours he returned home while his face was fully covered with blood and one could only see his eyes. These pictures are taken hours after his return home, his bruised face and broken nose cannot be shown due to his and his parents fear from the security guards. This is a summary of his story:

"It was around 12:30 a.m., and I was with my friend, his brother and his brother's wife. We were talking right in front of his place, which is about 2 to 3 blocks away from my place, while a group of people escaping entered the alley and took refuge in houses with open doors. My friends' place is in the middle of the alley so nobody took refuge there, and we went in and closed the doors. His brother and his wife went in building and asked me to join them as well, but since I was not feeling comfortable with his family, my friend and I stayed out in the parking."

"All of a sudden agents in black uniforms and helmets carrying batons broke the door and entered. We tried to hide behind the big trash bin at the end of the parking but one of them saw us, whistled and informed the rest of them who were just leaving the parking. It was just baton strikes all over my body after that, and we were transferred to the minus 4 level of Ministry of Intelligence building. There were a lot of riot police in black uniforms like those on the streets there. They were mostly non-Farsi speakers, and those who spoke Farsi kept telling us they could kill us right away and no one would ever know, they were also insulting us with very bad words."

The Aftermath

The two videos, one at the head, one at the bottom of this post show a disheartening turn of events. The Iranian government has employed such violence against the demonstrator that they have caused great fear among them.

From the reports though, it is also clear, that although they no longer feel safe in going to the streets, they are continuing to protest in any small way they can.

They have even banned the people from their traditional mourning practices for the dead, and even forbidden them to cry "Allahu akbar", Allah is Great, a confirmation of their Islamic faith.

Let us keep up the cry of Neda! Neda! Neda!

Let us find ways to let the Iranian people know that we are supportive of them, and respect their wish to do this alone, without military intervention from the world. I have to admire and respect this out gunned, and cruelly treated people who for days faced the police and the militia, many dying, many more being severely beaten.

The echoes of our own American Revolution now resound in Iran, and among a people not well armed at all.

When tyranny triumphs, we are all lessened by it. May God give us the courage and the fortitude to stand in the face of tyranny when it comes to our shores.

Iranian Courts vow to make demonstrators pay.

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We must keep up the encouragement of the Iranian people, let them know we support their efforts for a free and democratic republic in Iran.

News from Iran here.

An Iranian Blog here.




Iran says courts will teach protesters a lesson

Neda! Neda! Neda!

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Neda has become a rallying cry in Iran. As it turns out in a turn of bitter irony, Neda is the younger sister of the writer of the note that I posted in my last post. Neda didn't support any of the candidates; she just wanted freedom, liberty, and the right to pursue happiness.

One of the links I posted now show a 404 page error, but the main web site is still up.

If you are one of those who feel we should not interfere in any way, do you consider praying for these people to be interference?

If you are an atheist, and I suppose there might not be any reading this, can't you at least express support, even a pagan word of good luck?

There are now more, many more who have died for the cause of freedom in Iran. Do we begrudge them that because they are Muslims? The truth is, there are Christians in Iran, also; they want freedom and liberty too.

Please, write letter to your editors, write call or e-,ail your Congressional representatives. Let us make our voices one with the Iranian people as we cry out:

Neda! Neda! Neda!