Tagged: Iran

Dr Shaheed, what you have presented is just the tip of the iceberg: An open letter to Dr Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

[Read the text in Persian Here] Dear Dr Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, I am Arash Hejazi, an Iranian physician, writer, publisher and journalist, and the Doctor who tried to save the young girl shot to death by the Iranian Basij or the pro-government militia, orchestrated by the Revolutiosnary...

Two feedbacks from Italian readers of The Gaze of the Gazelle (Negli occhi della gazzella)

Your book hit my the soul… Sorry but I write with translator, my name is Romina, I am writing from Italy (ancona-marche). I read the book In the Eyes of the Gazelle (the Gaze of the Gazelle: Negli occhi della gazzella), it was so beautiful! I tried to understand better what you meant, jihad, Basij, imams, mullahs, jinn, Shari’a, Tudeh...

‘You don’t deserve to be published’ Book censorship in Iran

Censorship is as old as human intellect. It has been practised in almost every country at some level throughout history: from 399 BC, when Socrates was forced to drink poison, to the horrors of the Inquisition, and the oficial coining of the concept with the publication of Index Librorum Prohibitorum by the Roman Catholic Church; from the obligation of English publishers to register their books with the Stationers’ Company in the 16th century until the case of D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover; and the Nazi book-burning campaign and the absolute offfijicial control of the governments of the USSR, China, and Eastern European countries over published material.

Arash Hejazi’s interview with his shadow

“If I have decided that I should write, It is only because I should introduce myself to my shadow–a shadow which rests in a stooped position on the wall, and which appears to be voraciously swallowing all that I write down.” from The Blind Owl, by Sadeq Hedayat. I am having a very sincere and straightforward interview with my shadow,...

More than 150 Iranian prisoners killed or injured during clash with the Guards

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRNA), 16/03/2011 According HRNA, 150 inmates of the Ghezel-Hessar Prison near in Karaj, Iran, have been killed or injured by the security guards last night, after protesting to the imminent execution of 10 prisoners. According to reports, the prisoners shouted: ‘Stop Executions!’ and they broke down the gates to the wards. At 9pm last night,...

Iran, Tunisia, Egypt… What’s next? Time up for dictators?

In the last three years, from 2009 to 2011, several uprisings against dictatorships around the world have happened [namely: Iran, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Niger, Thailand and Sudan] with different outcomes. But this does not change the fact that it seems that the people living under dictatorship and totalitarian regimes are fed up.  While some of these oppressive governments have...

Ahmadinejad versus Oxford University and Neda

The Iranian Embassy Objects to the Queens College’s Neda Scholarship The Queen’s College venerates the memory of Neda Agha Soltan; the Iranian Government blames it on Arash Hejazi! The paradox in the Iranian Government’s Statement Regarding Neda The paradox lies in the fact that the Iranian government has reacted in different manners towards the death of Neda. First, the head...

Neda’s death. Eyewithness

As you might have read in Paulo Coelho’s blog, I was the doctor who tried to save Neda. I am the person in the video who tries to control her bleeding… in vain. I was the one who looked into her eyes, right before they lost their light forever. A famous Iranian writer called Sadeq Hedayat once wrote: ‘There are...