On behalve of Eddie woods
--Andreas Maria Jacobs
Dear Friends,
Early this morning the murderously barbaric Iranian regime hanged my friend,
and my friend Jane¹s friend, Zahra Bahrami. Her crime? To be in the wrong
place at the wrong time. Even though the (ugh!) Islamic Republic of Iran
would like for the world to believe otherwise. Zahra was 46 years old and a
dual Dutch-Iranian national. Only the Iranian government refused to
recognize her Dutch citizenship and therefore consistently denied Dutch
consular officials in Tehran any access to her. And today they killed her.
Zahra, formerly a student of Indian classical music at the Rotterdam
Conservatory and a professional belly dancer, had traveled to Iran more than
a year ago to be with her daughter, who was undergoing chemotherapy.
Foolishly perhaps, she (like thousands of others) participated in one of the
Ashura demonstrations that were held on December 27th 2009 to protest the
disputed presidential elections in June. Zahra, who has never belonged to
any political organization (contrary to another false claim being made by
the regime), was arrested and kept in solitary confinement until the moment
of her death. During the entire time she was repeatedly beaten and tortured.
And was once forced to make a public confession, which she later retracted.
A few months ago her Iranian lawyer, a lady well in the regime¹s sights for
handling other human-rights cases, was also imprisoned. While just the other
day the Dutch foreign ministry appointed two attorneys from the Netherlands
to represent¹ Zahra, a much-belated move that may well have sealed her
fate. For Zahra had first been tried and sentenced to die not on the
political charges (that trial was still meant to happen) but for possessing,
smuggling and selling narcotics. Drugs which had clearly been planted (as
though they would need to plant them: they could simply say she had them and
that would be that). Zahra did not even use drugs, any drugs, and was
certainly not a smuggler. But by trying her for this, the Iranian regime
hoped (successfully, it appears) to blindside Western governments, and the
Dutch in particular, as to their real motivations by saying this was all
part of a war on drugs.¹
TEHRAN [says]...it is holding a Dutch-Iranian woman caught with drugs, state
news agency IRNA reported, after the Netherlands sought details about a dual
citizen reportedly on death row...
³One of the cases that Western countries use to pressure the Islamic
republic is the case of a woman named Zahra Bahrami, who holds European
passports as well as an Iranian passport,² Iranian foreign ministry
spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, quoted by IRNA.
³(Bahrami) has been arrested by the police for carrying over 1kg of
narcotics,² Mr Mehmanparast said without elaborating on the sentence or her
nationality.
He dismissed foreign interference in the case, in comments apparently
aimed at the Netherlands which sought clarification...about a Dutch-Iranian
woman in her 40s reportedly sentenced to death.
³They are not allowed to interfere in our internal affairs and our
judiciary is quite independent,² said Mr Mehmanparast. AFP
And further: ³It is expected from the western countries to appreciate Iran's
efforts to combat drug trafficking and even cooperate accordingly,² he said.
³Unfortunately, however, we are witnessing their support for Zahra
Bahrami and they have even called for her release,² he added.
³The West should realize that if the issue of combating drug
trafficking is not taken seriously, it will directly affect their own youth
who will be entrapped by drug traffickers,² the Foreign Ministry spokesman
said. HSH/MMN
I have lived in Iran. And twice worked there as a journalist. That was when
the Shah was in charge. The same Shah who had a rather nasty secret police
force called SAVAK. (But hey, aren¹t all secret police everywhere nasty?
They damn sure are!) Yet unless you were actively involved in trying to
overthrow the Shah, SAVAK pretty much (well...) left you alone. The bastards
running the show in Iran nowadays don¹t leave anyone alone. They call
themselves men of God¹ but they are evil through and through. Quite as the
Ayatollah Khomeini was evil. I shall write more about Iran and my extended
stays there in due course. And about the Shah. At present suffice it to say
that the power-wielding mullahs and their traitorous (to the Iranian people)
cohorts must go. As for how to get rid of them, I do not know. Except that
it must come from within. As it came from within in Tunisia and is coming
from within in Egypt. And hopefully will come from within in numerous other
nations ruled by equally brutal and corrupt regimes.
Capital punishment is abhorrent, period. And to say it is more abhorrent in
Zahra¹s case is missing the point. Zahra¹s case is a tragedy because she
never should have been arrested, should not have been imprisoned, ought not
to have been tortured, and certainly not sentenced to death and hanged. But
Zahra is not alone. Iran executes people day in and day out. As does China.
As does the bloody United States. And too many other countries. In the
European Union it is banned. Even Russia abolished the death penalty. The
rest must follow suit. Without any exceptions and in all circumstances. It
is wrong. It would have been wrong for Hitler (how guilty can you get!), it
was wrong for Eichmann (banality incarnate), and it sure as hell was wrong
for Zahra Bahrami. Who also happened to be innocent. And thus becomes a kind
of martyr. For Iran. For her people.
Oh yes, I have actually witnessed an execution. A public execution. By
firing squad. In Thailand. More on that, too. Anon.
To find out more about Zahra, you can google her name. Dozens and dozens of
links will pop up. (On her Dutch passport the first name was spelt Sahra,
which is what the BBC is using.) Her surname had been Mehrabi, until the
Dutch government allowed her to change it. That when Zahra proved to their
satisfaction that she was on an Iranian death list. Her brother was executed
for having a photograph of the Shah in his possession! Her elder daughter
committed suicide. She is survived by a younger daughter and a 22-year old
son.
RIP Zahra Bahrami. What a terrible way to die. At the blood-stained hands of
a horrible regime that is as close to pure evil as any regime possibly can
get.
Thank you for reading this, EDDIE
One of countless Zahra news links:
http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2011/01/zahra_bahrami_exeuted_tehran/
³Execution Poem² http://eddiewoods.nl/?page_id=2185
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