Zeit| GRÜNE BEWEGUNG – Nie ganz weg aus dem Iran

In Deutschland leben hundert iranische Veteranen der Grünen Bewegung. Einer von ihnen ist Hesam Misaghi. Sein Heimatland will er nicht vergessen.

© Rico Grimm

Hesam Misaghi

Als es bei den iranischen Protesten vor vier Jahren darum ging, wo die Freiheit beginnt und wo sie endet, hatte Hesam Misaghi zweimal eine Grenze überschritten. Die erste war auf keiner Karte verzeichnet, das Mullah-Regime hatte sie gezogen. Die zweite entstand in einer Zeit, als das Land noch Persien hieß, und lag im Nordwesten nahe dem Irak und der Türkei.

Nachdem Misaghi die erste Grenze überquert hatte, packte ihn die Angst. Erst als er die zweite Grenze zur Türkei hinter sich ließ gelassen hatte, wich sie einem Gefühl der relativen Sicherheit – jetzt konnte das Regime seine Wohnung nicht mehr stürmen, denn er hatte keine mehr. Aber vor dem iranischen Auslandsgeheimdienst musste er sich weiter fürchten.

Misaghi war Teil der Grünen Bewegung, jener Massendemonstrationen, die vor vier Jahren bei den letzten Präsidentschaftswahlen das iranische Regime ins Wanken, aber nicht zu Fall brachten. Sein Heimatland hat er seit mehr als drei Jahren nicht mehr betreten können. Misaghi lebt heute in Berlin-Charlottenburg.

Er ist einer von knapp hundert Iranern, die ins politische Exil nach Deutschland gegangen sind. Ursprünglich wollte Deutschland nur 20 iranische Polit-Flüchtlinge aufnehmen. Es gab Proteste, 50 wurden zugelassen. Lutz Bucklitsch von der Flüchtlingshilfe Iran sagt, dass „aufgrund der guten Erfahrungen“ mit diesen Iranern die Innenministerkonferenz die Aufnahme weiterer Flüchtlinge erleichtert habe. „Diese Flüchtlinge sind gut integriert, sie arbeiten, sind selbständig, es gibt keine Asylverfahren“, sagt er. Ihm ist wichtig, dass die Iraner in Deutschland ihre politische Arbeit fortsetzen können. Dass sie ihre Stimme behalten können – anders als 2009.

Vollständiger Artikel

Even Iran’s Conservative Media Complain Of Filtering

By Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL

Pro-reform Iranians have long complained about Iran’s filtering of the Internet and crackdown on online journalists and bloggers. Reformist and independent media have been the main target of the establishment’s Internet-control efforts that aim at disrupting the free flow of information.

Yet reports in recent months suggest that conservative media, including blogs and news websites, have also been increasingly targeted by censors. The censorship has increased in the run-up to the June 14 presidential election.

The actions have led to a rare protest by more than 100 media activists — said to be involved in managing semiofficial news agencies and conservative websites — who have criticized the increased pressure against online media.

The activists write in their statement, issued over the weekend by the semiofficial Mehr news agency, that one of the bodies in charge of media work has in recent months taken „tough“ and „unexpected“ measures against the country’s „known and official media.“

The statement adds that „multiple centers of decision making“ in cyberspace is one of the main problems media face in their online activities.

It says that for official media, being contacted by an unrelated body and ordered to remove some content or face filtering has become a „trend“ in the past year.

The signatories of the statement warn that the actions damage Iranian society’s mental health and commitment to the principle of news dissemination.

Mehr says the activists are protesting against the actions of the so-called filtering committee, which is in charge of identifying online content that should be blocked according to its criteria.

The committee has in recent weeks ordered the blocking of a number of websites, including several websites associated with Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, the top aide to President Mahmud Ahmadinejad whose application to run in the presidential race was rejected.

The committee is only one of several entities involved in Iran’s broader efforts to control online activities and enforce censorship. The main one is the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, which is an oversight body in charge of policy making.

For more on the different bodies involved in Iran’s Internet censorship, check out this graph by the Iran media program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication.

 

Iranian activists say „political kidnapping“ hurts young women

Source: Radio Zamaneh

A group of political-social activists in Shiraz has called for the release of Jamila Karimi, a women’s rights activist and member of the Reformist Coalition Council of Fars, two months after her arrest.

Jamila Karimi

In a statement, the activists stress that Karimi’s arrest so close to the election can only be seen as „political kidnapping“ and an attempt to control the political atmosphere in favour of a particular group.

They go on to condemn the arrest as a violation of human rights and the violation of the rights of citizens who, despite all the threats and restrictions, regard participation in the election scene as their absolute right.

The activists say Karimi’s arrest has „irreparable effects on the trust and confidence of the young generation of women that are familiar with her extensive cultural activities in the city.“

Security forces arrested Karimi in April in Shiraz.

Election Campaign In The Streets Of Tehran

Photos by Arash Khamooshi, ISNA

In recent days, supporters of Iranian presidential candidates have been taking to the streets to campaign for their favorite candidate. Photographer Arash Khamooshi has captured the excitement in the capital city Tehran. Iran’s 2013 presidential election will be held June 14. Eight men were approved by the Guardian Council to run in the election, out of which two have dropped out of the race.

Campaign Posters Capture Rivalries

by Garrett Nada

In flashy campaign art, Iran’s six presidential candidates are pulling at public heartstrings and playing on haunting moments in Iranian history to rally votes. Posters are now plastered across billboards, fences, office blocks and the sides of cars as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus accounts—some of which are actually banned in Iran. Each candidate has his own buzzwords drawing on his past as a war hero, top adviser to the supreme leader, moderate cleric or peace negotiator. 

SAEED JALILI

      Jalili is a war veteran who lost a leg fighting Iraq in the 1980s—and his posters ooze with sacrifice and nationalism. His slogan, “Resistance is the key to success,” draws on imagery from a war that ended a quarter century ago but still influences politics. This poster encourages Iranians to fulfill their national duty to vote while recalling their past duty to defend the country. A hardliner, Jalili has run the most ideological campaign of the six candidates. He is currently secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator. Jalili accuses other candidates of being too soft on national security issues.

MOHAMMAD-BAQER QALIBAF 

      Qalibaf is a “man of action”― and his posters gush with images of him on the job. Websites and blogs by the “Lovers of Qalibaf” depict the Tehran mayor overseeing the building of bridges, highways and parks to illustrate his slogan: “Jihadi management versus capitalism.” A pragmatic conservative, Qalibaf balances his image as a manager with security credentials. Four pictures on the left are from his days as a Revolutionary Guard on the Iran-Iraq war front.