Iran: New suppressive measures by Judiciary to combat popular uprising

Mullah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, the Iranian regime's Judiciary Chief, in a statement on Sunday, while showing the regime's fear of the role of "the daily growth of anti-regime satellite channels" in increasing the people's uprising, called for "serious measures to confront this phenomenon" and urged "The honorable provincial judiciary chiefs and judges across the country" to dedicate "a branch of the prosecutor's office" to this work in order to issue "comprehensive and preventative sentences" on this matter and "suitable judicial action is taken, based on articles 498, 499, 500, 504, 508 and the subsection of article 510 of the Islamic penal code, against people who in some manner cooperate with the aforementioned networks or become members of organizational cells which are formed via internet websites." (State-run news agency ISNA, July 5, 2009) The articles mentioned fall within the definition of "acting against national security."

According to Article 498, "anyone, with any tendency, who forms or runs a group, association or organization of more than 2 people inside or outside the country under any name, the purpose of which is to disrupt national security and who is not found to be waging war on God will be sentenced to 2 to 10 years imprisonment." Under the regime's Penal code, waging war on God is punishable by death.

Article 504 states, "Anyone who encourages the armed forces or those who are in any manner at the service of the armed forces to rebel, escape, surrender or not carry out their military duties, if it is determined that the person's goal is to topple the system or let our forces be defeated by the enemy, is considered as waging war on God, and if otherwise not successful in the actions will be sentenced to 2 to 10 years imprisonment."

Therefore, in the eyes of the religious fascism ruling Iran, people who cooperate with satellite TV networks and internet sites should be sentenced to execution or at least 2 years imprisonment.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, described this callous action by the ruling mullahs as a sign of the weakness and enormous vulnerability of the regime which sees even the smallest amount of news freely reaching the Iranian people as a threat. The mullahs try in vain to frighten the population and subdue the uprising through a wave of arrests and executions.

Mrs. Rajavi warned that the inhuman regime plans to launch widespread arrests, and urged the UN Secretary General, Security Council and all international human rights organizations to condemn the suppressive measures by the regime's Judiciary and take urgent action to save the lives of those arrested in the course of the Iranian people's nationwide uprising.

Source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, July 6, 2009