Prison Guards Beat Iranian Freedom Activist, Break His Leg
Dissident blogger and freedom activist Hossein Ronaghi, who was arrested over his support for protests, told his family he was beaten in prison and his leg is broken.
Dissident blogger and freedom activist Hossein Ronaghi, who was arrested over his support for protests, told his family he was beaten in prison and his leg is broken.
Masoud Kazemi, a dissident journalist and a close friend of Ronaghi who resides in Turkey, said on Sunday that Ronaghi made a phone call to his mother from prison and told her that the prison guards had broken his leg.
Last week, security agents raided Ronaghi's house to arrest him after his interviews and posts in support of the ongoing protests, but he managed to escape and evade arrest without a warrant. However, on Saturday, he presented himself to prosecutors with his two lawyers and all three were arrested.
He was arrested several times in the past decade and has staged hunger strikes in prison. Ronaghi was first arrested, along with his brother Hassan, in the aftermath of the disputed presidential elections in 2009 for helping journalists and political activists to circumvent internet censorship. He was also charged with insulting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in his blog posts.
Ronaghi was one of the first this year to focus his activities against a bill by hardliner lawmakers to introduce highly restrictive internet policies
In an interview with Germany's Bild published on January 28, Ronaghi spoke about losing his kidney while in Evin Prison. "I'm still suffering from the effects of the torture, but the good thing is that I'm still alive and can continue," he said.
Iran International has learned that Dr. Fereydoun Nouhi, a cardiologist trusted by the Supreme Leader, is trying to create fake medical records that Mahsa Amini had a history of heart problems.
According to the information, Nouhi has asked at least three fellow cardiologists to certify that Mahsa Amini -- the young woman whose death in custody of hijab enforcement police has inspired an uprising across Iran -- had heart problems before her arrest.
Nouhi, who served as the director of the Iranian Cardiology Association, is the head of the Rajaie Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center.
Since the death of the 22-year-old woman, Iranian authorities have been trying to convince the public that she died of a heart attack despite evidence that she was beaten to death following several blows to her head.
The skull CT scan of Amini shows bone fracture, hemorrhage and brain edema, Iran International revealed last week. The medical documents and dozens of exclusive images sent to Iran International by a hacktivist group vividly show a skull fracture on the right side of her head caused by a severe trauma to the skull, which corroborate earlier accounts by her family and doctors.
Iranian police released CCTV footage, which shows Amini collapsing in the police station, in an effort to reject the evidence. The authorities also brought a neurosurgeon, Dr. Massoud Shirvani, on state TV on September 20 who claimed Mahsa had a brain tumor removed at the age of eight.
“Mahsa Amini was treated with drugs after the surgery under the supervision of an endocrinologist,” the physician said.
Rallies staged by the government in Iran on Sunday to show that it still garners support apparently were a failure, with small crowds gathering in some cities.
Early reports show anti-government protests resuming Sunday evening, as demonstrators come out after work, and also use the darkness to their advantage.
A video from the Kurdish city of Sanandaj reported clashes in early evening with security forces and gunshots are heard as smoke rises in some areas.
Protests were also reported from Zahedan, in southeastern Iran, one of the poorer regions with a majority Sunni population, but so far no videos have been published.
At least in one district of Tehran, Narmak, protests were taking place, and students in Tehran university were marching and chanting against the government.
The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations announced a strike for Monday and Wednesday (Tuesday is a public holiday) in support of the protesters. This is the first major call for a strike, although people on social media have been urging workers at key government economic sectors not to show up for work.
Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Saturday at least 54 protesters had been killed by then. In many cases, handing over the bodies of the victims to their families was made contingent on agreeing to secret burials, IHR reported.
Hacktivists sympathizing with protesters have also been at work targeting the websites of the government and its affiliates including the website of the ministry of foreign affairs and MCI, Iran's largest mobile network operator, which is an affiliate of the telecommunications company, and zeroed out all phone bills, in retaliation for shutting down their internet services.
We providee updates below in our live coverage on Sunday. Iran International cannot verify the exact time and location of all videos.
Our coverage for Sunday ended at 01:10, early on Monday.
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Protesters in Esfahan (Isfahan) taking over a key intersection in the city center Sunday evening.
Eyewitnesses say that crowds are dispersed in more locations in different cities, perhaps to reduce chance of an attack by security forces.
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Fierce protests in Qazvin Sunday night, with gunshot heard while it appears the protesters have set a police vehicle on fire.
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The European Union (EU) considered on Sunday “unjustifiable and unacceptable” the “widespread and disproportionate use of force” against protesters in Iran, after nine days of protests over the death of a young woman who was detained by the morality police , and that left 41 dead.
In a statement on behalf of the EU, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also condemned “the decision of the Iranian authorities to drastically restrict access to the internet and to block instant messaging platforms”, something that, according to him , “constitutes a flagrant violation of freedom of expression”.
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Protests in the northern Tajrish district of Tehran, Sunday evening.
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Protesters in Fardis, a district of the city of Karaj, 20 miles west of Tehran are chanting "Death to Khamenei" Sunday evening.
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A video showing a small crowd of regime supporters at one of their gatherings on Sunday.
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A short video of protests in Shiraz, capital of Fars Province in the south, on Sunday evening.
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Sunday evening protest in the Ekbatan district of Tehran. People chant, "Don't be scared, don't be scared, We are all together here."
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Protest Sunday evening in Sattar Khan district of the capital Tehran. The area has been a hotbed of protests in the past few days.
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Early evening in Sanandaj, western Iran and gunshots are heard against protesters. The pre-dominantly Kurdish city was one of the earliest to satge protests after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody that trggered the unrest in Iran.
The EU foreign policy chief has slammed Iran’s handling of protests as unjustifiable and unacceptable, hinting that the European Union may issue sanctions over the crackdown.
In a statement on behalf of the EU, Josep Borrell said that “despite repeated calls for restraint, the response of the Iranian security and police forces to demonstrations has been disproportionate and resulted in the loss of lives as well as a large number of injuries.”
“The EU and its member states urge the Iranian authorities to strictly abide by the principles enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party,” he said, calling on the Islamic Republic “to immediately stop the violent crackdown on protests and ensure internet access, as well as the free flow of information.”
The statement also urged “Iran to clarify the number of deaths and arrested, release all non-violent protestors and provide due process to all detainees.”
The EU also said the killing of Mahsa Amini – whose death in custody of hijab police triggered -- must be duly investigated and any proved responsible for her death must be held accountable.
“The European Union will continue to consider all the options at its disposal ahead of the next Foreign Affairs Council, to address the killing of Mahsa Amini and the way Iranian security forces have responded to the ensuing demonstrations,” read the statement.
The Wall Street Journal’s journalist Laurence Norman quoted some unnamed diplomats as telling him on Sunday that "There will be EU sanctions on Iran over its crackdown on the protests.”
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said that negotiating with Iran over the nuclear issue will not stop Washington from denouncing the brutal repression of Iranians.
Speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Sullivan said, “We’re talking about diplomacy to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon. If we can succeed in that effort, and we are determined to succeed in that effort, the world, America and our allies will be safer.”
“And that will not stop us in any way from pushing back and speaking out on Iran’s brutal repression of its citizens and its women. We can and will do both,” he said in response to a question about whether Iranian mass protests -- triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who died in custody of hijab police -- changes the US’s calculus in nuclear talks with Tehran.
“The fact that we are in negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program is in no way impacting our willingness and our vehemence in speaking out about what is happening on the streets of Iran.”
He mentioned President Joe Biden’s speech at the UN General Assembly on September 21 who said the US stands “with the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran as they stand for their rights and their dignity.”
“We have in fact taken tangible steps to sanction those morality police who caused the death of Mahsa Amini,” Sullivan said, referring to the US Treasury Department’s sanctions. “We've taken steps to make it easier for Iranians to be able to get access to the internet and access to communications technologies that will allow them to talk to one another and to talk to the world.”
Enumerating the steps the Biden Administration has taken in response to the death of Mahsa Amini and Iranian protests in another interview, Sullivan said they learned from Obama's response to 2009 protests that sometimes the administration can "overthink" these things, emphasizing that the US will continue speaking out.
Hacktivist group ‘Anonymous’ has hacked the database of Iran’s parliament and the Supreme Audit Court, releasing the phone numbers and other data of all lawmakers.
In a video message published on Sunday, the group announced it has hacked the website of the parliament as part of its ongoing operation against the government of Iran in solidarity with the popular protests triggered by the death in custody of the 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini.
“Our support for the Iranian protests will continue. As you all know, the government is trying everything to stop you. Don’t give up,” said a distorted voice on the video. “Do not leave the streets. Do not stop the revolution.”
“The Iranian parliament supports the dictator when it should support the people, so we are releasing the personal information of all of them,” the group said.
On Saturday, the hacking collective took down the website of Iran's state-run Arabic news network Al-Alam, a few days after it attacked the official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei amid the nationwide protests in the country. Both the Persian and English versions of Khamenei’s website are still down.
A number of state-run websites in Iran, such as IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency and the news website of the state broadcaster have limited access to their pages from abroad over fears of being attacked by the hacktivist group.
If Iran government blocks the people from accessing the internet, Anonymous will block the government from accessing the internet, the group has said.
