Another Iranian judicial killing of a political prisoner is imminent. The Supreme Court of Iran has confirmed the death penalty against the guerrilla HPG Rêgeş (Ethem Özdemir). The guerrilla, who comes from Ağrı (Agîrî), in northern Kurdistan, was captured on June 23, 2019 in the Qeleniyê region in the Kevirê Spî area during clashes with the Revolutionary Guards (IGRC).
The 27-year-old has been a member of the PKK for ten years. After 33 months in captivity, Rêgeş was brought before the “Revolutionary Court” in the city of Xoy and sentenced to death in a show trial on March 15, 2022.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Organization said that Rêgeş is detained in Urmiye prison and that the death sentence against him has been upheld by the highest court.
His execution could take place at any time.
The human rights situation in Iran is rapidly deteriorating, with an increase in political executions of prisoners in recent months. According to the Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), there were some 66 executions during April, with three female prisoners and 56 men among the victims. More have continued throughout May, at an average rate of 10 executions per week.
According to human rights watchdog HRANA, Iran persists in executing individuals for offences falling short of the standards outlined in the United Nations multilateral treaty on civil and political rights.
Iranian authorities have used capital punishment to intimidate popular resistance related to involvement in the mass anti-government women’s liberation protests that sprung up in the country after the police killing of Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini in 2022. Executions for drug-related offences are also widespread, against international law. In a recent high-profile case, Kurdish rapper Toomaj Salehi was sentenced to death for ‘corruption on earth’, after calling out human rights abuses in Iran through his music.
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Zhina Modares Gorji, Kurdish journalist, sentenced to 21 years in prison in Iran for opposing the hijab
Meanwhile, Kurdish journalist Jîna Muderîs Gurcî has been sentenced to 21 years imprisonment by an Iranian revolutionary court, tried on several charges related to her women’s rights advocacy and journalistic activities. Reporters Without Borders ranks Iran 176th out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom and the safety of journalists.
Zhina Modares Gorji, a prominent Kurdish journalist and women’s rights activist from Sanandaj, who was also arrested during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement against the hijab (headscarf for women), has been sentenced to 21 years in prison and locked up in Hamedan Central Prison by the Iranian judiciary.
According to a report received by the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Zhina Modares Gorji, a journalist and women’s rights activist, was recently sentenced by Section 1 of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Karami, to 10 years in prison for “forming an illegal group with the aim of overthrowing the government”, 10 years for “collaborating with hostile groups and governments” and 1 year for “propaganda against the government”.
The final hearing on the charges of the Kurdish activist was held on April 10 this year, and the verdict was officially served on Thursday, May 23.
The human rights watchdog said that Gurcî had been previously arrested twice before – the first time in the wake of the ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ (‘Woman, Life, Freedom’) movement in September 2022. She was again picked up by Iranian intelligence on 10 April 2023, and detained in solitary confinement for a month at the Sanandaj Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre before being transferred to prison for a further two months. On both occasions she was released on bail.
With the application of the law on aggregation of sentences, of the total 21-year sentence, the most severe sentence, which is 10 years in prison along with exile in Hamedan prison, is enforceable.
The lawyers of Ms. Modares Gorji have officially registered their objection to this harsh sentence, and the case will be sent to the Provincial Court of Appeals for review.
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original in Catalan
Iran condemna a mort el militant del PKK Ethem Özdemir, del Kurdistan de Turquia
Un altre assassinat judicial iranià d’un pres polític és imminent. El Tribunal Suprem de l’Iran ha confirmat la pena de mort contra el guerriller HPG Rêgeş (Ethem Özdemir). El guerriller, que prové d’Ağrı (Agirî), al nord del Kurdistan, va ser capturat el 23 de juny de 2019 a la regió de Qeleniyê a la zona de Kevirê Spî durant enfrontaments amb els Guàrdies Revolucionaris (IGRC).
El jove, de 27 anys, fa deu anys que és membre del PKK. Després de 33 mesos en captivitat, Rêgeş va ser portat davant el “Tribunal Revolucionari” a la ciutat de Xoy i condemnat a mort en un judici espectacle el 15 de març de 2022. L’Organització de Drets Humans del Kurdistan va dir que Rêgeş està detingut a la presó d’Urmiye i que la condemna a mort contra ell ha estat confirmada pel tribunal més alt.
La seva execució podria tenir lloc en qualsevol moment.
A summary of the events of 2 days which resemble a precursor to civil war.
And the May 15 press release from the CCAT (Field Action Coordination Unit) —- Kanaky/New Caledonia: —-
NO to thawing the electorate! NO to recolonization! (Text from the Kanaky solidarity collective —-
This Monday, May 13, the day before the vote in the national assembly, the demonstrations of the separatists against the thaw of the electorate increased; blocked roads or filter dams, well-attended strike at the port and airport of Nouméa, closure of numerous administrations, fires lit in different places, start of mutiny in the Nouméa prison, clashes between young Kanaks and the police in working-class neighborhoods , numerous injuries and mass arrests.
It is in this insurrectional context that the vote in the national assembly will take place on May 14 on the unfreezing of the electorate.
To try to stop this dangerous process for the future of the Kanak people, the elected representatives of the Congress of New Caledonia met this Monday, May 13 and managed to adopt, by a majority, a resolution requesting the withdrawal of this bill. on the electorate. Elected officials remind the State that the majority of them are against this bill.
30 years after the Nouméa Accord, as well as the transfer of skills and their rebalancing, inequalities remain very significant, the non-respect of priority to local employment: in many sectors, it is the metropolitans recently arrived in New Caledonia, due to attractive conditions (salary level and indexation, advantages in terms of housing or installation support), who occupy positions to the detriment of Kanak workers with equal skills. Thus continues a long tradition of privileges offered to French people going to work overseas.
Conditions which make it possible to strengthen the settlement colony that this Pacific territory has always represented for the French state. This is in total violation of international law. Indeed, Kanaky/New Caledonia remains a non-autonomous territory under international law, as such included on the list of countries to be decolonized according to United Nations resolution 15-14.
Not so long ago we wrote about the occupation of mills and factories in Argentine, but as our subscribers rightly noted something similar, but unfortunately on a smaller scale and with its own specifics, had happened in Russia’s modern history as well.
In the late 1990s, there were several workers’ attempts to take the control of their enterprises in various degrees of success. We will tell you the story of the most successful of them, Vyborg’s pulp and paper mill, and try to compare it to the story of Argentinian workers’ occupation of the ceramic factory Zanon.
So, Vyborg’s Pulp and Paper Mill (PPM) is an enterprise that is located in the village Sovetski near Vyborg. At the end of the 90s there were more than 2000 workers and in fact it was the city-forming enterprise. It was hardly to find any other job. In the 90s the enterprise was privatized and through a simple scheme with contractor firms, that were supplying raw materials at inflated prices and buying the products at low prices, it was led to bankruptcy. The beneficiaries of this whole process were obviously the owners of the enterprise. They were outrageously pursuing a simple goal – to pump funds into their pockets and then disappear, as if they never existed.
Back then, there were numerous similar stories – capitalists preferred to play short, hit the jackpot and move on to some new goals. On the other side workers were left without salaries for months, even years and later without a job since the bankrupted enterprise would close and its assets, including the expensive equipment, would be sold off. That would have been the same case here as well, but it followed in a different way.
“Optimization” in the style of the 90s
The owners of the new firm “Nimonor Investments”, that bought Vyborg’s PPM, wanted to reorganise it into sawmill, firing that way a half of the working collective. They replaced mill’s security with their own and obviously later they could easily start the selling off of the “unnecessary” assets, but mill’s collective formed people’s squad, witch would guard the enterprise alongside owners’ security. Then, as people weren’t receiving salaries for moths, they organized a general assembly and established a trade union comprised of workers and local municipal deputies. We believe they, should be mentioned separately.
Undoubtedly, as it is now, there was a lot of deputies who were businessmen themselves or were representing the interest of a business. But then the notorious vertical power system was not build yet, the elections were not completely reduced to a sham and therefore among the deputies people not integrated in the system could be found and they were ready, one way or the other, to fight against it. That was the case of some of the municipal deputies. In a certain sense, the existence of such people was good. It’s quite likely (but it is not sure) that workers wouldn’t be able to fight the owners without them so successful. But here the huge contrast with the situation of the occupied Argentinian factory becomes evident.
El general yemení subrayó que los barcos fueron atacados por violar la decisión de prohibición de movimiento hacia los puertos ocupados de Palestina. El portavoz militar de los rebeldes hutíes, el general Yahya Sari, informó este miércoles que llevaron a cabo 6 operaciones militares en los mares Mediterráneo, Rojo y Arábigo.
‘The RT post below is very very carefully worded to report, at a step removed’ on an uncontrolled process that could destroy us all. In reality it is common knowledge that the US pays and rules. US and UK teams are manning the NATO ATACMS and other armaments now doing serious damage ever deeper into Russia.’
‘Missiles are even reportedly destroying S400 State of the Art defenses, withthe S500 not yet deployed. Now Russia’s final warning red lines and repeated Nuclear drills are replied to with a NATO Nuclear Attack Simulacro..’
‘And now we have the ‘Ukrainian’ attack on a Russian anti Thermonuclear Missile radar – exactly what you would do before launching the massive surprise “Decapitation” Nuclear Blitz. And this despite Russia showing proof that their automatic response and nuclear subs would destroy the planet many times over. ‘
AS VLADIMIR PUTIN ONCE REMARKED. “WITHOUT RUSSIA WE DON’T NEED A PLANET”.
“A reported Ukrainian attack on a Russian early-warning radar installation may have been approved by the US and poses the risk of a nuclear escalation, an analysis published by the Austrian armed forces has warned.
Ukrainian sources claimed last week that Kiev had delivered a strike at a Voronezh-DM site in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region, near the city of Armavir. The alleged operation is significant, considering that the facility is part of Russian nuclear deterrence, according to a text by Colonel Markus Reisner and posted by the Austrian military on Sunday. “
“It is unlikely that attacking the radar station had direct military value for Kiev, Reisner argues. Disabling it would reduce the amount of intelligence that Russia collects on Ukrainian launches of US-donated ATACMS ballistic missiles, he added.
But the station is designed to detect intercontinental ballistic missiles that fly at altitudes much higher than the tactical weapons used by Ukraine.
The expert suggested that the alleged attack may have been a US-sanctioned response to Moscow’s reminders that it could use non-strategic nuclear weapons under certain circumstances. Senior Ukrainian and Western officials have called those statements a form of blackmail.
Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin ordered tactical nuclear exercises in the Southern Military District, which borders Ukraine. Moscow said this was in response to increasingly hostile rhetoric by Western officials.
”If this is indeed the case, two further conclusions can be drawn: first, the situation in Ukraine is extremely serious and, second, the war over Ukraine has escalated again,” Reisner wrote.
Such an attack could qualify for a nuclear retaliation, the colonel added.”
“Russia’s nuclear doctrine says that its nuclear arsenal may be used in four scenarios, one of which is “enemy action against critical Russian government and military facilities, the disabling of which would prevent a nuclear response.”
Over-the-horizon radar stations, such as the Voronezh-DM, are meant to detect ICBM launches and inform the national leadership, at which point officials can make a decision on whether to fire back.
The Russian Defense Ministry has so far not commented on the alleged attack.
Washington has previously been accused of brinkmanship in its stand-off with Russia. Investigative journalist Seymor Hersh has claimed that the US was behind the 2022 bombings of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which were built to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Germany. The US government has rejected the allegations, but Moscow has said it found them credible.”
The Greek-owned bulk carrier MV Laax is taking on water after it was hit by Houthi missiles off the coast of Yemen on Tuesday, Reuters has reported, citing security services.
The Houthis – a Shia Islamist group that controls a large part of war-torn Yemen – has been attacking merchant vessels since October, calling it an act of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), the Houthis fired five anti-ship ballistic missiles off the Red Sea coast. The Marshall Islands-flagged MV Laax was reportedly struck by the three of the missiles, but continued its voyage. The ship did not report any injuries.
The Houthis warned in March that their attacks on ships supposedly linked to the US, UK and Israel “will have a great impact.” The militants have vowed to continue disrupting shipping along the vital trade route, in response to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
The Seatrade Maritime News website reported this month that the Houthis had managed to expand the range of their activities, with a recent strike on the container ship MSC Orion around 170 miles south of Yemen’s island of Socotra.
The US has responded by carrying out strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, with the UK occasionally joining in. The EU has dispatched its own vessels to patrol the Red Sea and protect shipping lanes.
According to Lloyd’s List, weekly transit through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, has fallen by 60% due to companies being forced to reroute their vessels.