Iran ( Saeed Matinpour allowed visitation in Evin prison - After 3 years )

29 July 2013

Saeed Matinpour allowed visitation in Evin prison

Keywords : Political Prisoners

فارسى

Committee of Human Rights Reporters – Saeed Matinpour, jailed journalist and political activist was granted visitation in prison today, July 29 after spending about 3 years of his sentence behind bars.

According to CHRR, on July 18 Saeed Matinpour and a number of other political prisoners at Evin prison were transferred to solitary confinement after about 150 officers violently raided the men’s public Ward 350 of the prison. This led to 6 prisoners launching a hunger strike in support of Matinpour, demanding that he be released from solitary confinement and returned to the public ward. The six prisoners who went on hunger strike were Saeed Jalalifar (CHRR member), Saeed Haeri (former CHRR member), Reza Shahabi, Soroush Sabet, Fereydoun Seydirad and Vahid Ali Ghalipour.

The hunger-striking prisoners ended their strike after 4 days when their demands were met and Saeed Matinpour was transferred from Ward 240 back to Ward 350 in Evin prison. Today, one week after his return to the public ward, Saeed Matinpour was finally granted visitation with his family.

Saeed Matinpour, a philosophy major at Tehran University is a civil activist involved in Azerbaijan ethnic rights, and journalist who wrote in Zanjan Newspaper. He was arrested on May 25, 2007 and subjected to harsh interrogations while held in solitary confinement for nine months, leading to back and neck problems. He was handed an 8-year prison sentence by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Salavati on the charges of “connection with foreign entities,” and “propaganda against the regime.” Even though Matinpour has spent more than half of his prison term behind bars in Evin prison, he has been barred from his legal right to furlough despite many requests on the part of his family. He is now serving his prison term in Ward 350 of Evin prison.

EGYPT News ( The hospitals and several gun shot victims- No slow down in the violence )

Colombia ( Eight Gang Members Arrested in Colombia -Authorities seized 107.5 kilos of cocaine )

The suspects were involved in drug trafficking, staging attacks on the security forces and running extortion rackets targeting business owners, officials said

BOGOTA – Eight suspected members of the Los Rastrojos gang were arrested in Bahia Solano and Nuqui, two cities located in the northwestern Colombian province of Choco, the navy said Sunday.

Pacho Valois, the gang’s suspected leader, was among those arrested.

Attorney General’s Office and navy personnel carried out the operation that led to the arrests in urban and rural sections of the cities.

The suspects were involved in drug trafficking, staging attacks on the security forces and running extortion rackets targeting business owners, officials said.

Authorities seized 107.5 kilos of cocaine, 1.6 tons of marijuana, arms and ammunition from the Los Rastrojos cell operating in the two cities over the past 18 months, the navy said.

The gang’s operations have been dismantled in Nuqui and Bahia Solano, officials said.

Leonardo Fabio Barrera Santos, who ran the gang’s finances in the northeastern city of Puerto Santander, was arrested in a separate operation, the National Police said.

Los Rastrojos is one of a number of groups founded by veterans of the defunct United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) militia federation.

Los Rastrojos and the other AUC successor groups, such as Los Paisas and Nueva Generacion, are responsible for a good deal of the criminal activity in Colombia, officials say

INDIA ( 10 Children Die in School Bus Crash in India - 30 were injured )

NEW DELHI – Ten children died Tuesday and another 30 were injured when the bus taking them to school collided with a truck in the northeastern Indian state of Rajastan, a police spokesman told Efe.

The accident occurred early Tuesday morning in the Hanumangarh district as the bus was headed for the city of Goluwala with some 40 youngsters on board, the spokesman said.

Six of the children were pronounced dead at the scene and four others died later at a hospital.

Around 30 others are being treated for their injuries in different medical centers.

According to NDTV television, the crash occurred when the bus driver tried to pass another vehicle.

The whereabouts of the bus and truck drivers remain unknown.

Some 125,000 people die annually in India in traffic accidents and, according to a report published in 2011 by the World Health Organization, it is the country with the greatest number of deaths on the highways.

Accidents in India are chiefly caused by bad driving, poor signposting, and the disrepair of vehicles and roads. EFE

Police stop ( Young girl gets body slammed into the ground ) Excessive force

India New Delhi ( Police shoot and kill a biker - the man was performing stunts on bike )

A young man was shot dead and another injured after an altercation took place between a biker gang and the police on Parliament Street in New Delhi. According to CNN IBN, Delhi Police intercepted a group of 30-40
A young man was shot dead and another injured after an altercation took place between a biker gang and the police on Parliament Street in New Delhi. According to CNN IBN, Delhi Police intercepted a group of 30-40 youngsters performing dangerous stunts on the road in the wee hours of Sunday. When the police asked the youngsters to stop, a fight broke out between them.

Image used for representational purposes only. AFP.

According to DNA, the police tried shooting at the tyres of one of the bikes. However, the bullet hit Karan Pandey, who was riding pillion, on the back. Another youth Puneet Sharma was also injured. The duo was rushed to a nearby hospital where Pandey was declared dead. Doctors also said that Sharma was drunk.
CNN IBN adds that the police has said that even after repeated warnings, the drunken bikers continued with their stunts and jeered at the police. The police then fired one shot at the air and then targeted the tyre of one of the bikes. Because the vehicles were moving, police said, the shot hit Karan in the back.
DNA reports:

A police patrolling van reached Windsor Place after there were reports that some 30 young bikers were performing dangerous stunts. When the policemen instructed them to stop, the bikers started pelting stones at them, which damaged the police vehicle.
The Delhi Police had recently announced stringent action against biking gangs in Delhi, some of who have reportedly robbed individuals and shops. This police intervention was meant to be a part of the spate of new measures taken to pull a plug on these biking gangs stunts on the road in the wee hours of Sunday. When the police asked the youngsters to stop, a fight broke out between them.

 

 

Iran News ( Member of Iran minority sets self on fire - Ahl Al-Haq faith )

Monday, 29 July 2013   

An Iranian semi-official news agency is reporting that a member of a small religious minority set himself on fire next to the country's parliament building.

Mohabat News - ISNA's late Saturday report says the man, a member of the Ahl Al-Haq, suddenly poured a bottle of fuel on his body and lit it. It said he was taken to hospital.

Iranian opposition websites have reported two other such self-immolations since June by Ahl Al-Haq adherents following the alleged abuse of a group member in prison. Those reports couldn't be independently verified.

Iran recognizes some non-Muslim minorities such as Zoroastrians, but others like the Baha'i complain of exclusion from state jobs, vilification in the media and other pressures.

The Ahl Al-Haq faith is found mostly among ethnic Kurds in both western Iran and Iraq. / journaltimes