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This is the only community I have to share this with. I made a thread but was notified to post as blog instead. I just wana make sure at least someone hears this, my heart is real heavy so here it goes.
I get on skype to speak with my cousin from Iran, like I do from time to time.
And he looked frail, pale, and bruised... and speaking with a quivering voice.
He told me that he had just been released from a 7 day detention, along with 3 other close cousins of mine. They had been beaten, lashed, starved and threatened.
Why? Because they had danced in the street while on vacation up north.
They had gone from capitol Tehran to a northern province and rented a small villa, about 5 people in total, 4 of them my close family. They had had a good time, simply partying and dancing on the street.
The next morning, he described, there was shouting and yelling. Special police crawling everywhere, climbing walls and having everyone hit the floor at gun point. They got cuffed, chained and dragged out.
They spent 7 days in jail, along side people with murders and addicts. Most of them had cried almost the whole time. My oldest cousin, the one that I talked to, was trying to keep them composed and got them through that hell. They got 50 lashes EACH. LASHES. GOD WHY?!
I swear to you they did NOTHING else. This is the WHOLE story. They got hauled off for simply having a good time, minding their own business. I know them, I grew up with them. They are good people.
They are back home now... and the government of Ahmadinejad keeps on ticking. I feel so furious, so much despair.. I can't do anything. I don't think anyone can.
I feel so helpless. All I can do is try to comfort them with words half way across the planet. What can I do? Over here the biggest crisis in months has been paying a dollar more for gas. What the fuck do I know about struggle...
God please help them.
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From Canada you have the freedom to publicly express your feelings about Iranian law & leadership and help your relatives/friends/countrymen organize to protest the current state of the government in your home country. Other than that I don't see what you can do. I'm sorry to hear that this happened to your family.
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i hope it works out for ur family
today when i read your blog it just.. ::sunglasses:: ruined mahmood
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Call your local MP: seriously.
It's election season, a story like this could be used as a campaign ploy.
Also, stuff like this is part of the local MP's job.
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On April 10 2011 01:19 Wr3k wrote: From Canada you have the freedom to publicly express your feelings about Iranian law & leadership and help your relatives/friends/countrymen organize to protest the current state of the government in your home country. Other than that I don't see what you can do. I'm sorry to hear that this happened to your family.
No I can't do anything. This is not a one of event. It happens all the time. This time it happened to my own.
Think about it, I'm posting this on a gaming forum. Thats about the widest audience I can get. No one here will do anything beyond what already happens.
Even people here think I'm making it up. Some guy in general forum said there was probably more to the story. There isn't. Its simple.
I feel silly to have posted here, but my heart is beating and I am mad at injustice. There is no law or lawyers down there that will fight for them. They will be labeled as "anti revolutionaries" and they will lose their livelihood. And there is nothing I can do for them from up here...
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On April 10 2011 01:25 MiniRoman wrote: Call your local MP: seriously.
It's election season, a story like this could be used as a campaign ploy.
Also, stuff like this is part of the local MP's job.
I'm afraid they'd get in more trouble if the story actually went viral. So are they, soon as they were released they drove back to Tehran, didn't say a word.
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As i said in the original thread, This must feel horrible and i hope they get over it soon. I don't recommend saying anything to the local mp's either. Stay strong!
But now i want to ask a question. Isn't partying/dancing on the street prohibited in countries where they enact sharia law widely in their legislation? (Iran, Saudi-Arabia,Pakistan etc) I hope you get what im trying to ask here.
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Well if he'd be OK with it maybe you could ask your cousin to record a video of him recounting the story and showing the marks (+ others). It'd be hard and painful, but that's be some cold hard evidence that may have more use than simple words on the pages of this establishment.
My condolences in any case
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This is not a one time event... It happens all the time... Shouldn't those be good clues as to why your cousins shouldn't have been dancing in the street? I don't mean to be rude or insensitive here, but like Grettin is saying, it would seem quite obvious in a country like Iran, you don't want to do that type of shit. Keep it indoors and not too rowdy, or else you can get thrown in jail and lashed. It's like Singapore. You can't run around the streets of Singapore acting like it's Mardi Gras. You will get caned. It's not an injustice if the law of that country prohibits that sort of behavior.
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Tell your cousin to get the fuck out of Iran. Why would you choose to stay in a country where fun isn't legal?
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On April 10 2011 03:49 Uranium wrote: Tell your cousin to get the fuck out of Iran. Why would you choose to stay in a country where fun isn't legal?
easier said than done. If he has school/work, family, friends etc there. Where would you go and where would you get a citizenship? Is it worth it? As long as you obey the law, you can have fun. (I'm not trying to say OP's cousin didn't nor there actually is a law that you cannot party/dance on the streets!)
Seems like Storkwhaiting understood what i was trying to say here. I completely agree with SW's comment. Not to be rude in anyway though.
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Sounds like another day in Iran. Sorry to hear about your family.
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