Iran Press News Flash - News & information translated from our Persian section

Professors and Students from Azad University of Qazvin arrested

As the regime's plans for widespread oppression in schools and universities across Iran intensifies, on Sunday, Oct. 23rd, several of the employees, professors and students of Azad University of Qazvin were arrested; they were charged with "establishing a network of corruption in a university" and permanently expelled.

The regime newspaper, KAYHAN which is the mouthpiece of Khamnei, published this news and quoted a member of the disciplinary forces of the Province of Qazvin: "Having investigated the situation, at least one of the professors and some employees of the University are now confirmed to be a part of this network of corruption and with the arrest of the main cell, we are working to identify other members. It is entirely possible that the other members of this network are dozens of male and female students. We are sure that the instigators are evildoer students who were expelled in previous scholastic years."

The newspaper did not go on to either explain the form of "evildoing" or how this "network of corruption" established by these sinner students would still be connected to this university.

Nurses live under the poverty line

Based on reports from the regime-run student news agency, ISNA, Mohammad Sharifi Moqadam, the Director of the Nurses' Association indicated that though the nursing duties in private wards are much more complicated and time-consuming than a public ward, the nurses in private wards are still not paid enough and are therefore living under the poverty line. Sharifi-Moqadam said that the legal minimum wage is approximately $136 per month, which a large majority of the nurses in private wards do receive though they are deprived of any sort of benefits. He stated that the nurses in private wards have the lowest pay rate in the legal employment scales and unfortunately though their jobs are considered among the most difficult and dangerous, they are still not entitled to any time off or early retirement.

Sharifi-Moqadam also added that work pressure for nurses is much more than that of an average job, working in one of the worst areas with little in return. Nurses also do not seem to have any job security because the majority of private hospitals only hire nurses under temporary contracts which forces them to accept any work condition.

Expressing his deep concern over these working conditions, Sharifi-Moqadam stressed the need for serious restructuring of these issues as nurses cannot even subsist with these types of wages; he added that at present nurses who work in private hospitals (let alone those who work in public hospitals) live under the poverty level, hungry, physically exhausted, depressed and there seems to be no improvements in sight.

Families of student political prisoners summoned

According to ILNA, the regime-run news agency, the Islamic Judiciary has summoned the families of the Student political prisoners in order to "complete the investigations and present information on the Ministry of Intelligence and Security's prisoner list."

Qaazizadeh, the Executive Director of the Islamic judiciary announced: "Families whose loved ones are being detained should report to the superintendent of theMinistry of Science all across the country in order to provide information for the investigation and presentation on the list." Qaazizadeh confessed to the increase of pressure on Universities around the country and said that universities must cooperate with the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) of the regime as well as the Ministry of Science and Technology. He said: "This plan is to establish an interface between the judiciary, Ministry of Intelligence and Security as Ministry of Science (the University Surveillance branch)."

Though this Executive Director did not specify what exactly "the established interface" is meant to achieve, it seems evident that this too is a part of the security and intelligence scheme to further oppress and squelch the University student protests that the regime began devising after the installment of Ahmadinejad to presidency.

Ahmadinejad: "When the nuclear issue is resolved, westerners will take issue with our human rights problems and when that's resolved, they will probably pick on us for animal rights abuse"

According to the regime-run newspaper, ETELA'AT, on Saturday, Oct. 23rd Ahmadinejad spoke about the IRI nuclear issues to a large group of the regime's agent. He said: "The West is simply opposed to the nature of Islamic order; therefore when the nuclear issue is resolved, westerners will take issue with our human rights problems and when that's resolved, they will probably pick on us for animal rights abuse. We've shown our tolerance and expedience with this matter. As time goes on, the closer we will get and we will not stand down. When the centrifuges are started up again, things will transform. The regime is now entirely behind recommencing the work of the Esfahan U.C.F. plant; we had stopped the activities in order to obtainthe trust [of the westerners]. First they (the westerners) made such a huge fuss over it but now as you see, they're becoming docile and are slowly settling down. We have commanded that things have changed yet they called us idiots. Is defending people's rights idiocy? These enemies sit around jeering at us and they expect that they can make us think that something big is happening. IF these westerners were able to touch us, they wouldn't feel the need to warn us about it first. We seem to agitate these westerners but that does not affect us. We tell them to take their anger to the grave with them."

No news from political prisoner, Behrooz Javid-Tehrani, detained at Rejaiishahr prison

Student Committee for the defense of Political Prisoners - www.irandp.org

Behrooz Javid-Tehrani's family has expressed great concern for his safely. It has been 3 weeks since they heard from him. Two weeks ago, Javid-Tehrani's sister went to Rejaiishahr prison in order to visit her brother and was prohibited. She asked the court for an explanation why her brother is not being permitted to either use the phone or to have visitors; she was told that he made the mistake of giving an interview to Radio Farda (the Persian Broadcast of Radio Free Europe) in which he had revealed the names of his interrogators and torturers and as such he has had all his privileges taken away. This occurred after Javid-Tehrani announced that he was brutally tortured while being detained in Evin Prison's infamous ward 209 and had lodged vocal complaints against his torturers; he is now known to be suffering from severe head and eye injuries.

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Prisoners held in solitary cells are severely beaten

Student Committee for the defense of Political Prisoners - www.irandp.org

On Monday morning, Oct. 24th while the political prisoners of Rejaiishahr prison, visited with their families and loved ones, Khaled Hardani whose wife and children were among the visitors were witness to him being brutally beaten by the regime's agents. Bina Darab-Zand, another political prisoner who came to Hardani's aid was removed from the visitors' area as well and taken to solitary. All this happened while these two prisoners' furloughs from prison had finally come through.

The families of these prisoners reported the incident, calling it "staged" and a ruse to prevent the two prisoners from taking their deserved furloughs by charging them with insubordination and mischief-making.

Ahmad Seraajee, Tabrizi blogger is sentenced to 1 year in prison in yet
another ruling

www.tabriznews.com

Tabriz News - Human Rights Service: Seyed Ahmad Seyed Seraajee (http://www.iranpressnews.com/english/source/008228.html) Tabrizi blogger was sentenced to 1 year in prison by the appeals court of Western Azerbaijan.

In a short phone interview with the human rights service reporter of Tabriz News, Seraajee said: "Other than the six months prison term and the 30 lashes that I had been already sentenced to, branch two of the appeals court of the Western Azerbaijan's justice department handed down another one year prison sentence; the charges of "insulting and attempting to overthrow the Supreme Leader" still stand but I was cleared of the charge of 'apostasy'. During the 4 months of my detention I have not been permitted to have visitors and I still have no lawyer."

15 million people in Iran suffer from mental illness

ISNA, the regime-run student news agency reports, 15 million people, equal to 21% of the population in Iran, suffer from some form of mental illness; the ratio of women to men's susceptibility is 2 to 1. Depression is the most common illness among women; in fact more women suffer from depression than they do of physical illnesses.

The regime's Ministry of Health also announced that 14% of this group is in fact young Iranians, under the age of 18. Only 10,000 people of the 15 million are actually receiving medication for their condition, the reason being that there is a lack of psychiatrists, psychopharmacologists and psychoanalysts in Iran.

Double-bull capitals of the Persepolis stolen

Kayhan, the regime-run daily newspaper reports that the members of a ring of antiquity thieves who stole the double-bull structures in the capitals of the famous columns of The Hall of Hundred Columns at Persepolis were caught in the city of Kerman. The members of this ring who stole the capital off of a main column during the early years of the revolution, had been looking for a way to smuggle it out of Iran, to sell.

The Director of the protection of cultural heritage in the Province of Kerman said: "The thieves had not been able to transport the object out of Iran; the capital had been kept in a house in the city of Shiraz throughout the years."

After years of investigation the 6 main leaders of the ring were arrested. When they were caught they had with them: one cachets of weapons, several cars, one crane and various hi-tech camouflage instruments.