Iran has cracked down on hundreds of thousands of protesters who have poured into the streets in an act of breathtaking defiance to protest the contested results of last week's presidential election. Let Iran know that the global community is monitoring their every move! TAKE ACTION:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&aid=12454
The government of Iran swiftly kicked the machinery of repression into high gear over the last several days in response to the largest public demonstrations of opposition that country has seen in 3 decades. Iranian authorities have violently cracked down on the wave of protesters who have taken to the streets since June 13th in an act of breathtaking defiance to protest the contested results of Friday's presidential election.
Up to 1 million people poured into the streets last Saturday despite a ban on opposition protests. Basij (paramilitary) forces opened fire indiscriminately, killing at least one person and injuring several others. According to reports, as many as five students at Tehran University were shot dead over the weekend and another person was wounded when security agents opened fire on a demonstration. Motorcycle-mounted riot police have severely beaten large numbers of protestors with clubs and night sticks.
Authorities have detained 170 people since June 12, including the brother of former President Mohammad Khatami. Iranian authorities have taken aggressive measures to stifle dissent and stem the flow of information – both inside and outside of the country – about the widespread unrest. Help send a vital message today to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that we refuse to remain silent when authorities use bloody violence to crush dissent and deny Iranian citizens their freedom of speech and association:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&aid=12454
Meanwhile, in England, the doctor who tried to save an Iranian protester as she bled to death on a street in Tehran has told the BBC of her final moments. Dr Arash Hejazi, who is studying at a university in the south of England, said he ran to Neda Agha-Soltan's aid after seeing she had been shot in the chest. Despite his attempts to stop the bleeding she died in less than a minute, he said. Video of Ms Soltan's death was posted on the internet and images of her have become a rallying point for Iranian opposition supporters around the world. Dr Hejazi also told how passers-by then seized an armed Basij militia volunteer who appeared to admit shooting Ms Soltan. Dr Hejazi said he had not slept for three nights following the incident, but he wanted to speak out so that her death was not in vain. He doubted that he would be able to return to Iran after talking openly about Ms Soltan's killing.
Iran protest leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says he holds those behind alleged "rigged" elections responsible for bloodshed during recent protests. In a defiant statement on his website, he called for future protests to be in a way which would not "create tension." He complained of "complete" restrictions on his access to people and a crackdown on his media group.
"I won't refrain from securing the rights of the Iranian people... because of personal interests and the fear of threats," Mr Mousavi said on the website of his newspaper, Kalameh. Those who violated the election process "stood beside the main instigators of the recent riots and shed people's blood on the ground", Mr Mousavi said, pledging to show how they were involved. Mr Mousavi, a former prime minister, spoke of the "recent pressures on me" that are "aimed at making me change my position regarding the annulment of the election". He described the clampdowns he and his staff were facing. "My access to people is completely restricted. Our two websites have many problems and Kalameh Sabz newspaper has been closed down and its editorial members have been arrested," said Mr Mousavi, who has not been seen in public for days. "These by no means contribute to improving the national atmosphere and will lead us towards a more violent atmosphere," he added.
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