Me#1You#10
Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
|
 Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:30 pm Post subject: NY Sun: "Iranian Dissident Rushed to Hospital" |
 |
|
Perhaps this is a situation we should be more mindful of...it, perhaps, might light another spark for revolution and/or reformation in Iran...(emphasis mine)
| Quote: | Iranian Dissident Rushed to Hospital
BY ELI LAKE - Staff Reporter of the Sun
July 19, 2005
WASHINGTON - With his health failing and his family barred from visiting him, officials at Iran's Evin prison sent political prisoner Akbar Ganji to Tehran's Milad hospital, a decision seen by his supporters yesterday as a last-ditch effort to save the dissident journalist's life. Mr. Ganji has ingested only sugar cubes and water as part of a hunger strike begun when he was rearrested on June 11 for urging a boycott of last month's presidential elections.
A hospital spokesman told Iranian reporters that Mr. Ganji had been admitted for routine knee surgery.
Mr. Ganji has emerged as a symbol of democratic opposition in Iran. He has spoken out against leaders in the regime, charging them with masterminding the murders of dissidents and intellectuals, and has called for change in his country's political process. His writings have made him a hero to the Iranian opposition - but they have also landed him at Evin. President Bush, E.U. representatives, and human rights organizations have called on the Islamic republic to release Mr. Ganji in the past week.
"I think he is in serious condition," a former Iranian political prisoner currently in America, Mohsen Sazegara, told The New York Sun yesterday. Mr. Sazegara has personal experience with hunger strikes: He launched his own on June 15, 2003, after being arrested during a crackdown on student demonstrations. A month later, Mr. Sazegara was taken to Baghyatallah hospital, where he was hooked up to an intravenous feeding tube.
<snip>
In the Emrooz interview, Ms. Shafieh said her husband would reject an offer by the outgoing president, Mohammed Khatemi, who reportedly suggested Mr. Ganji would be released from prison if he signed a statement confessing his guilt.
<snip>
"It is not to their advantage if something happens to Ganji," Emrooz quoted her as saying. Mr. Fakhravar told the Sun, "The minute Akbar Ganji dies, you will see what a revolution looks like here."
<snip>
Yesterday Mr. Sazegara said that Mr. Bush's statements calling for freedom for Mr. Ganji were heard in Iran among the democratic opposition, but said they may not be enough. "We have an expression in Persian which you also have in English. Not a single hair on his head should be touched. That is what Mr. Bush should say about Ganji. Bush should make the consequences known to Iran if anything happens to Ganji."
NY Sun - cont'd |
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
