Human Rights Violations in Iran
December 10 -- On the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Radio Farda gathers experts from around the world to weigh in on the current status of human rights in Iran. [Read more in Persian or English]
Student Credits Radio Farda for Release from Jail
December 3 -- Mahdieh Golrou, one of four Alameh Tabatabai University students arrested and subsequently released by authorities, thanked Radio Farda for its extensive coverage of their plight and credited Farda for facilitating their release. Golrou and fellow students were detained by Iranian police after a three-day protest against the government's education policies. [Read more in Persian or English]
'Student Day' Protests Draw Huge Crowds Across Iran
December 6-8 -- The massive number of students at a Tehran University protest against the government kept Iranian security forces from directly intervening, Radio Farda has learned. Nevertheless, authorities were spread throughout the crowd videotaping the students, some of whom were heard chanting slogans such as "Death to the Dictator!" [Read more from Tehran University in Persian]. Meanwhile, two days after national Students Day, several hundred students at Iran's Shiraz University marked the event with a demonstration against government policies, despite attempts to shut it down. One participant told Radio Farda that, "despite the intense security, more and more students are joining the rally every minute." [Listen to more in Persian or read in English]. And at Bu Ali Sina University in Hamedan, security forces used tear gas to try to break up a student protest. [Read more from Bu Ali Sina University in Persian]. In order to understand the significance of 'Student Day,' Radio Farda's weekly roundtable, "Viewpoints," featured three experts who discussed the day's past and present. [Read "Viewpoints" in Persian]
Lawyer Barred from Leaving Iran to Collect Human Rights Prize
December 10 -- Security agents claiming to be from the "President's Office" prevented human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh from boarding a plane in Tehran bound for Italy, where she was scheduled to accept an international human rights prize. Sotoudeh describes their seizure of her passport as an "absolutely illegal procedure." [Read more in Persian or English]. Meanwhile, another prominent human rights activist, Abdolfattah Soltani, traveled to Germany to accept an award from the Nuremburg Human Rights Center. Soltani's organization - the Iranian Center to Defend Human Rights - has been defending Iranian political and social activists "mistreated by Iran's judiciary system" for about a decade. [Read more in English]
Sugarcane Factory Workers and Journalist Face Charges
December 6 -- Five workers at the Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Factory have been charged with "spreading propaganda against the regime" for granting interviews to the foreign media about working conditions at the plant. Abolfazl Abedini, a journalist who has been covering the labor protests for the past two years, has also been charged by authorities. [Read more in Persian]