demonstrations

 ed. note: I've promoted this back to the top in order to remind people of what is happening in Iran.  Wear Green or think Green.

On January 28, Iran’s government executed another young Iranian to silence opposition forces protesting the re-election of Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Arash Rahmanipour, just 19 years-old, was one of a group of eleven people sentenced to death for “moharebeh”, which means “waging war against God”. I’ve posted his photo on the left, because his image is so unlike what one would expect given the accusation against him. It was taken in court as he faced his accusers. Arash looks like a lamb led to slaughter and that pretty much accurately describes what happened to him.

While the Iranian government spread its version of the story, Rahmanipour’s lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, has told the truth as she witnessed it. Tehran’s Chief Prosecutor General said that Arash Rahmanipour confessed to crimes and had been tried in the presence of his lawyer. But Sotoudeh, said that the confessions were extracted under duress, and that she was not allowed to attend the trial. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, Rahmanipour had been arrested during the post-election turmoil. Sotoudeh says he was arrested two months before the election, and his case had nothing to do with the post-election strife.