Crumbs of human rights

Mohammad Ali Taheri, the founder of a new spiritual group Erfan-e Halgheh, was on hunger strike for about 70 days. He was protesting his death sentence for “spreading corruption on earth” through his spiritual beliefs and teachings. Furthermore, he has risen up against the Iranian authorities’ refusal to allow him access to his lawyers and to get a copy of the court verdict. On 21 October, his family confirmed that Taheri ended his hunger strike . (Source: amnesty.org ) Taheri he has not been able to meet his legal representative since 22 August, a few days after the lawyer submitted an appeal against the death sentence. While waiting for any information about the status of the appeal, Taheri’s physical health is deteriorating. He has lost weight and is suffering from low blood pressure. He was taken to the prison clinic for a few hours on 18 September after he lost consciousness. Mohammad Ali Taheri established the Erfan-e Halgheh institute in Tehran, using healing...

Since the presidency of Ahmadinejad, students and academics have been targeted for their political activism, engagement in peaceful protests or for exercising their right to freedom of expression. In the aftermath of the 2009 election, the authorities sought to tighten their grip over the universities even more. Professors have been fired or forcibly retired; many academics have been persecuted for attending conferences abroad, having connections to other academics in their field or being linked to reformist political groups. Retired professor seen as enemy because of his party affiliation   The latter seems to be the trigger for the imprisonment of the retired chemistry professor, Mohammad Hossein Rafiee Fanood (Hossein Rafiee). He was arrested without a warrant by Ministry of Intelligence officials in mid-June and later transferred to the Evin Prison. So, why exactly is he serving a prison sentence for his peaceful political activism? Because of his “membership of an illegal ...