Heard This Week - 01/31/2008

January 26 -- Tehran University professor Sadegh Zibakalam, Georgetown University professor Mehrdad Mashayekhi and former Iranian Interior Ministry elections office official Sorajedin Mirdamadi debated the Iranian government's vetting of parliamentary candidates on Radio Farda's weekly roundtable "Viewpoints" [audio in Persian]. Two days earlier, journalist Isa Saharkhiz told Radio Farda that almost one third of the candidates have been disqualified, including "current members of parliament" [audio in Persian].
 

January 29 -- A student told Radio Farda [text in Persian] that several of his colleagues at Tehran University have disappeared; it is unclear whether they had been arrested following three nights of protests by 1,000-1,500 students over low-quality food and poor facilities on campus [text in Persian]. Eighteen students were injured when security forces attacked the student protest that evening [text in Persian].
 

January 30 -- A spokesman for Reporters Without Borders told Radio Farda that, in the Islamic Republic, the right to know is deemed a threat to national security after the closure of "Zanan" monthly [audio in Persian].

January 26 -- A researcher for the European Foundation for Democracy told Radio Farda [text in Persian] that, as no charges have been filed against three Baha'i social workers detained in Shiraz (Fars Province), the only reason for their arrest seems to be their faith.
 

January 25 -- Radio Farda aired an interview with Arash Bikhoda [audio in Persian / article in English], an Iranian Internet journalist living in Europe whose article "The Koranic Verses That Discriminate Against Women" has landed journalism student Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh on death row in Afghanistan.


Radio Farda, a joint project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA),
is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week news service.