Political Prisoner: Nasser Zarafshan, Iran
Zarafshan, who is also an author and translator, was serving as legal representative for the relatives of two of the families of Iranian writers and journalists who were assassinated in November 1998 in what came to be known in Iran as the “serial murders” case. The murdered journalists included Majid Charif, an editorialist with the monthly Iran é Farda, writer-journalists Mohamad Mokhtari and Mohamad Jafar Pouyandeh, and freedom of expression activists Darioush and Parvaneh Forouhar. The action against Zarafshan is said to be both in retribution for his criticism of the official investigation carried out into the murders and also as a means of silencing others who seek the truth behind the killings.Zrafshan remains in prison to this day. I havn't been able to find out a lot of other information on Zarafshan, although the Tahkimeh Vahdat, Iran's pro-democracy coalition lists him as one of it's members.
posted by Dave Justus | 12/17/2004 09:55:00 AM
3 Comments:
The West needs to do a better job of keeping an eye on prisoners of conscience in the Middle East. (Esp. the ones who don't blog) - The possibility of peaceful revolution hinges on world pressure keeping the ruling class from sending in the tanks - that's why Yuschenko's getting another crack at the Ukranian election.
Iran is currently convinced no one's going to call them on how they treat dissidents and activists for change. Unfortunately, at the moment, it appears to be a pretty good guess.
Hi Dave,
As an Israeli/American/Russian living in Tel-Aviv (for the time being) I trully appreciate your search for justice.Just a bit about myself to make things clear as to where I stand...Born in Moscow,USSR in 1981, I'm the son of a Refusnik(political refugee)and a professional volleyball player(that's my mom).My family immigrated to the U.S. when I was 7.Ever since, I've been trying to decide just who I am and what I'd like to do with myself. When I was 19, I made aliya(immigrated to Israel)in order to serve in the IDF.I felt,as I feel today,that the right thing for any Jew who deems himself "Zionist" is to live in Israel instead of talking and preeching all the time.So...now I'm 23, as you may have counted,married(no kids),and trying to get an internship in one of Israel's English-speaking(?) newspapers.
As for your political commentary(in general),they appeal to me a great deal thanks to their even-handedness and understanding.I will make a habit out of visiting your site.Thank you for shining some light into the darkness that is today's political reality around the world.Feel free to visit my sight:HearOhIsrael.blogspot.com
p.s. My mom's best friend is a Muslim man from Iran.He is(like my dad once was)a political refugee, an activist for freedom and democracy in his home country.
Thanks for dropping by Regreg23, and thanks for the kind words.
I will certainly visit your blog, and add it to my blogroll when I next update it (no promise on when that will be, I am lazy.)
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