Ahmadinejad Supporters Arrive in Prison

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has criticized the naming of Mohammad Reza Rahimi as an accomplice in the Bimeh Iran insurance lawsuit and has expressed his concern about the continuation of the issue whereas he has remained silent on the arrest of 13 web bloggers that have been supportive of him.

Mohammad-Reza Rahimi is Ahmadinejad’s most senior deputy whose name is now widely mentioned as an accomplice in the economic corruption case of Bimeh Iran insurance, according to Alef website. Some view him as the principal suspect and the leader of the lawsuit commonly known as the Khane Fatemi (the Fatemi House) and have asked the judiciary to treat him like any other ordinary citizen and the other suspects in the lawsuit and summon him to court. But even though the prosecutor has confirmed him to be an accomplice and suspect in the lawsuit, he has till now never been summoned to court.

It is probably this fact that bothers pro-Ahmadinejad web bloggers and website writers the most and prompts them to write, “nobody from the administration has worked for Ahmadinejad,” or government spokesperson “Javanfekr did not write to the president,” as criticism of the man who has remained silent over those individuals who have been arrested simply for supporting him. They contend that the purpose of the arrests is to make “supporting Ahmadinejad more costly.”

Ahmad Shariat, a web blogger who supports Ahmadinejad and who manages the website Nedai az Daroon (the Voice from Within), is the most recent pro-Ahmadinejad writer detained. He was summoned on Saturday by the prosecutor’s office in charge of media and cultural affairs and was transferred to prison.

It is said that the reason for his arrest is a piece that he wrote in which he criticized the Revolutionary Guards and quoting the remarks of Mohammad Ali Jaafari, the commander of the force last week, said, “Imagine that the head of the deviant group wins the presidential election. How will the Guards respond? Can the force accept such a ‘No’ (similar to the 2005 elections). At that time, Ahmadinejad was the Guards’ red line but today Mashai is and they are willing to do anything to take him out of the race.”

Prior to that event, Hamse web-blog writer Amir-Hassan Sagha had been arrested apparently for criticizing the influential Larijani brothers (one of whom heads the Parliament and the other the judiciary).

Hossein Ghadiani, a web blogger who writes for “Ghete 2” (Lot #26), Mohammad-Saleh Meftah, who writes for blog Shaghayegh Vahshi (Wild Corn Poppy Flower), Amir-Hossein Sabeti, the writer for “Dastnevishaye Yek Daneshjoo” (the Handwritten Notes of a Student) blog, Majid Bazrafkan, the writer of “Taamolat” (Reflections) blog, Hassan Roozitalab, the writer of “Yadname” (Memoirs) web blog, Saeed Sadati, the writer of Jolbak Setiz (Seaweed Fighter) web blog, and Meisam Nili, the manager of Raja News site are among pro-Ahmadinejad blog writers who are behind bars today.

Mohammad Hossein Nobakhti, the former manager of Nowsazi website is another web blogger who spent 99 days in prison and was released on bail. Pro-Ahmadinejad web sites and blogs have written that these individuals have ended up in prison because of their criticism of the head of the judiciary and the head of the Majlis - both institutions are currently led by the Larijani brothers.

According to reports, these web bloggers were arrested after they participated in a meeting in Tehran which discussed an action plan for the remaining year of Ahmadinejad’s presidency, according to Aftab website.  “Some 40 bloggers supporting Dr Ahmadinejad met at a meeting in Tehran and discussed a plan of action for Ahmadinejad’s last year of presidency,” the site wrote.

Reactions

But while Ahmadinejad has remained silent over the arrest of his supporters, Reporters Without Borders issued a statement in which it expressed its satisfaction over Mohammad-Hossein Nobakhti’s release from prison but also expressed its concern over the detention of Shariat, another web blogger.

In addition, there have been strong complaints against these arrests and court summons.  Ruhollah Hosseinian, who is a known pro-Ahmadinejad advocate and a former deputy at the ministry of intelligence, has said, “I do not know where to complain. Where is the judiciary going? This institution now targets the soldiers and officers of the soft war. One day the manager of Kayhan is arrested, the next the manager of Iran newspaper for writing something about the son of a prominent personality, while Hossein Ghadiani is summoned for criticizing the judiciary.)

“The judiciary should stay assured that by summoning the supporters of the revolution not only will it not be immune from criticism, but that their appetite to create more divisions among sympathizers of the regime will increase,” he continued.

A group of Basiji students from Tehran University also wrote a letter to the secretary of the powerful Guardians Council, ayatollah Janati, in which they criticized the double standards used against students and the media by the judiciary and called on him to stop the Larijani brothers from attacking revolutionary students and media.