Islamic Republic persists in arresting protesters

Alireza Seghfi - Maziar Samii

The Islamic Republic is hard at arresting political and social activists in Iran in an attempt to avert mass protests on February 11.

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reports that this morning Maziar Samii, a student activists and member of the One Million Signature Campaign to Stop Discriminatory Laws, was arrested at his home after his personal effects were confiscated.

Alireza Seghfi, member of Writer’s Society and labour rights activist, was also arrested after being summoned on Tuesday to the Intelligence Ministry. He had also been arrested once before along with his son during the International Labour Day march last May and released after several weeks at Evin Prison.

Sahar Ghasemnejad and Nazanin Hoseinnia were also arrested today by officials in plain clothes at 4 a.m. in the morning at their homes. While neither of them have any connection with any political groups, they both belong to families of dissidents and political activists.

Charges have not been laid against them and the families have been told to inquire about their children at the Revolutionary Court.

In conjunction to arrests, detainees are reportedly under pressure to make self-incriminatory confessions.

Human Rights Reporters Committee announced that one of their detained members, Mehrdad Rahimi is being forced to make a televised confession.

Mehrdad Rahimi was part of the Mehdi Karroubi campaign team in the June presidential elections and was arrested in January along with Parisa Kakai, another Reporters Committee member.

Seven members of this Committee are currently in prison while arrest warrants for another four have been issued.

In the past eight months, over five thousand protesters to the outcome of the presidential elections and the following events have been arrested.