[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great

[Rasker]

Iranian women defy police whips to demonstrate against 'dictatorship'
By Angus McDowall in Tehran
Guardian

13 June 2005


Hundreds of women demonstrated outside Tehran university, calling for greater rights and a boycott of Friday's presidential election.

They shouted "down with dictatorship!" and "shame on you!" in response to the aggressive tactics of police, who tried to prevent protesters reaching the demonstration yesterday.

"I have come to defend my rights because these people have always oppressed us," said Farangis Rafati, holding up a Kurdish women's group banner. "All the candidates in the election say the same things. They're the same people. It makes no difference if we vote because they will have someone elected among themselves."

As the protest ended, another began on the other side of the street calling for a boycott of the election, to be contested by eight candidates who were approved by a clerical watchdog.

Some 89 women candidates, including several well-known conservatives, were barred because of their gender. Women have the same voting rights as Iranian men but suffer what is in effect discrimination in legal matters.

The favourite to win Friday's poll is still the former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, but a poll showed the reformist candidate moving into second place, narrowly ahead of two hardliners. No candidate is likely to win in the first round, setting up a second ballot on 24 June between the two front-runners.

Dissident groups are split between supporting the reformist candidate, Mostafa Moin, or advocating a boycott. "We believe we can only influence democratisation through participation," said Ebrahim Yazdi, head of the Freedom Movement, who himself faces possible imprisonment. "It's like Stalingrad - we have to fight inch by inch but we can only win if we participate."

But protesters were sceptical. "The candidates talk about rights but there's no improvement from what they've said before," said the writer and publisher, Soheila Beski. "I have always voted but this time I won't."

Iran's most famous woman poet read to a hushed audience on the ground. But soon afterwards, the crowd roared and surged forward as somebody was dragged away by police. A weeping elderly woman said that she had been struck by a policeman as she tried to approach the rally.

"We don't want to recover our rights at the expense of men," said a journalism student, Shafiq Khanbani. "We want the democratic rights of all people to be respected and we're protesting because they're not."
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The Sun Is Rising In The West!Soon It Will Shine on All of Iran!

[Rasker]

More awesome pics from the demonstrations! (Couresy of Azad at http://kafie.blogspot.com/2005/06/more-pictures-from-todays.html

































Multiply this by one hundred on the 18th (or whenever), and the regime will start collapsing!
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The Sun Is Rising In The West!Soon It Will Shine on All of Iran!

[Rasker]

Iran: Thousands join women’s anti-government demonstration in Tehran

Monday, 13th June 2005

Iran Focus


Tehran (Iran), Jun. 12 – A protest that began with a gathering of dozens of women in downtown Tehran this afternoon drew thousands of anti-government protesters and streamrolled into one of the largest demonstrations against Iran’s clerical rulers in recent months.

The protest began in front of Tehran University as a small group of women began chanting “freedom, freedom” and calling for a referendum on religious rule.

The rally grew rapidly as thousands of local inhabitants and passers-by joined the protesters.

Hundreds of uniformed and plain-clothed security agents quickly circled the protestors to prevent thousands more joining their ranks. Agents of the notorious secret police, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and the paramilitary Bassij forces were ferried to the streets around Tehran University to disperse the demonstrators.


The mainly young protesters, many in their teens, defied the security forces’ assaults and chanted slogans against the upcoming presidential elections, calling it a masquerade.

Cries of “Freedom, equality, down with dictatorship” could be heard at the scene, as protestors tore down campaign posters of all election contenders and urged passers-by to boycott the polls.

Protesters were able to break through police ranks in Enghelab Street and move towards Enghelab Square and then Karegar Avenue. Thousands had joined the throngs of protesters as they made their way towards Keshavarz Boulevard, destroying all election posters and placards on their way.

In a reference to gender inequality in the theocratic state, protesters chanted, “Unequal law, inhuman justice”, “human rights can only exist in a free Iran”, and “Misogyny is the root of tyranny”.

Security agents and paramilitary policemen were seen hitting women with batons. In some cases, angry women protesters retaliated and beat some of the security agents before being dragged to security forces’ vans and driven away.

By nightfall, sporadic clashes were still being reported in several streets near the main route of the protest.



This article comes from Iran Focus
http://www.iranfocus.com

The URL for this story is:
http://www.iranfocus.com/article.php?storyid=2377
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The Sun Is Rising In The West!Soon It Will Shine on All of Iran!

[Rasker]

More great pics and coverage here: http://www.payvand.com/news/05/jun/1079.html
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The Sun Is Rising In The West!Soon It Will Shine on All of Iran!