Iran: A Dissident's Stand

Fire of Liberty

While we are constantly bombarded with story after story on Karl Rove, Supreme Court picks and countless stories on Space-shuttle Columbia on the front pages of the national newspapers and on the various cable-news stations, we are deprived of news on Akbar Ganji standing up to the tyrannical regime of Iran. According to this article by Eli Lake in The New York Sun, Ganji, who was originally arrested in 2001 for writing a book implicating members of the regime in several murders of their political opponents, has started his second month of a hunger strike in Evin prison in Tehran after being re-imprisoned for giving an interview urging the people of Iran to protest the recent presidential election.

While the MSM might find it easier to report on the latest Beltway-Buzz or the latest missing person case, they continue to ignore a growing grass-roots movement within Iran against the regime. Luckily the people of Iran have diligent reporters like Mr. Lake who has noted that Ganji's hunger strike has gained some legs with the people in Iran who have grown tired of the regime's 26 year heavy handedness. Just see what Lake reported in The Sun on the protest movement that has been spurred on by Mr. Ganji's brave and diligent stand against the mullahs:

While Mr. Ganji's case has attracted little attention here, in Iran he is emerging as a symbol of the country's democratic opposition. According to Reuters, 150 demonstrators yesterday clashed with riot police when a protest to release Mr. Ganji turned violent. Opposition groups have reported that participants in the Tehran rally numbered in the thousands, including a California-based satellite television station, IranNTV.

An e-mail translated into English announcing the rally, which was sponsored by the Student Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners, also called for the release of Nasser Zarafshan, Arjang Davoudi, Heshmat Tabarzadi, Bina Daaraab-Zand, Khaaled Hardaani, Hodjat Zamaani, Behrouz Jaaveed-Tehrani, Mojtaba Samiinejad, Manouchehr Mohammadi, Mehrdad Lohrasbi, Abbass Deldaar, Mariam Araii, and Kobra Rahmanpour.

That the demonstration proceeded yesterday was itself important in the aftermath of hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in the presidential election last month. Mr. Ahmadinejad has served as mayor of Tehran and commander for intelligence for a branch of the revolutionary guard that carried out overseas assassinations against the Islamic Republic's opponents. The Austrian government last week announced that it would begin evaluating new evidence from a member of its parliament to determine whether Mr. Ahmadinejad played a role in the 1989 assassination of the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, Rahman Ghassemlou.

Until yesterday, the ascendance of Mr. Ahmadinejad, beloved by the pro-regime religious militia the Basij, seemed to pose too great a risk for Iran's restless democratic opposition to express their distaste for the government in Iran's streets. On the anniversary of the 1999 Tehran University uprisings, for example, hardly any protests took place in the country as they have in the past on July 9.

Ganji has also received the much needed support of President Bush who released the following statement from the White House:

Akbar Ganji, an Iranian journalist who since 1999 has been routinely sentenced to prison by the Iranian government for advocating free speech, is again in jail because of his political views. Through his now month-long hunger strike, Mr. Ganji is demonstrating that he is willing to die for his right to express his opinion. President Bush is saddened by recent reports that Mr. Ganji's health has been failing and deeply concerned that the Iranian government has denied him access to his family, medical treatment, and legal representation. Mr. Ganji is sadly only one victim of a wave of repression and human rights violations engaged in by the Iranian regime. His calls for freedom deserve to be heard. His valiant efforts should not go in vain. The President calls on all supporters of human rights and freedom, and the United Nations, to take up Ganji's case and the overall human rights situation in Iran. The President also calls on the Government of Iran to release Mr. Ganji immediately and unconditionally and to allow him access to medical assistance. Mr. Ganji, please know that as you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you.

It's wonderful to have a leader like President Bush who takes an active stand for freedom by siding with the people like Ganji who risk their lives by taking an active stand against the forces of evil.