Iran announces the killing of a first Iranian army soldier in battles in Syria/Iran regime flogs activists for demanding release of political prisoners/ Dissident Iranian cleric poisoned in prison

Iran announces the killing of a first Iranian army soldier in battles in Syria
Jerusalem Post/April 11/16/

The Iranian Special Forces sent to Syria in mid-March suffered their first loss Sunday, as one officer was killed during battles with Syrian opposition factions, news sites affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards reported Monday. The Special Forces officer, Mohsen Qitaslo, fought within the ranks of Brigade 65 in the Iranian army, known as the “brigade of green berets.” Tabank, an Iranian news site aligned with the Revolutionary Guards, reported: “The Iranian army sacrificed its first martyr,” but did not specify where the officer was killed. The reports about the officer’s death contradict previous declarations of the Iranian Army Ground Forces’ Deputy Commander, who stated that the Special Forces that are sent to Syria will perform an advisory role and will not participate in the fighting. On Wednesday, several Iranian news sites reported that the Iranian Special Forces arrived in al-Hader village in Aleppo’s southern suburbs to prepare for their participation in battles aimed to recapture a number of villages in the region the Syrian regime has recently lost. In mid-March, following the heavy losses inflicted on Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards in the battles against Syrian opposition factions over Aleppo, the Iranian army announced that it would send its Special Forces brigade to Syria, to reinforce its forces in Aleppo.

Iran regime flogs activists for demanding release of political prisoners
NCRI/Monday, 11 April 2016/- Iran’s fundamentalist regime last week flogged five activists in a prison north of Iran for demanding the release of political prisoners. The five men, identified as Amir Amini, Morteza Parvin, Maysam Jolani, Saleh Peachganlou, and Mostafa Parvin, were flogged on April 6 in a prison in Ardebil. They had been charged with raising a placard during a soccer match that called for the release of political prisoners in Iran. The regime’s court in Ardebil condemned each of these activists in November 2015 to three months’ imprisonment and 30 lashes for raising the placard in a soccer match between Ardebil and Hormozgan teams which read “Abbas Lesani and political prisoners must be freed.” The verdict was upheld by the regime’s Court of Appeal. On March 25, 2015, Abbas Lesani, an activist, was condemned to one year of imprisonment for “propaganda” against the regime. He is currently serving his sentence in Shiraz Prison, southern Iran. The mullahs’ regime continues to carry out barbaric punishments including hangings, torture, flogging, amputation of limbs, eye gouging, and stoning to death.

Dissident Iranian cleric poisoned in prison
NCRI/Monday, 11 April 2016/ A dissident Iranian cleric has been poisoned in prison by agents of the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), reports from Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison say. The reports indicate that Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi fell seriously ill on April 7 after MOIS agents poisoned his food. He has since developed strong pain all over his body, in particular in his feet and legs, and his vision has been drastically reduced. Ayatollah Boroujerdi, 57, has spent nearly 10 years in the Iranian regime’s jails, including at least 440 days in solitary confinement, due to his opposition to clerical rule. He was arrested in Tehran on October 8, 2006. Earlier reports from Evin Prison said Boroujerdi had been facing brutal physical and psychological tortures behind bars. One report said that in prison his health has drastically deteriorated and he has been suffering from various illnesses, yet he has been denied proper treatment or medicine. In prison, he has developed a heart condition and kidney and respiratory problems. He has also lost about 90 percent of his vision in one eye and has lost a lot of weight. The only medication made available to him are pain-killers, the report said. Ayatollah Boroujerdi was prosecuted behind closed doors by the regime’s Special Clerical Court. According to Amnesty International: “He was charged with some 30 offences, including ‘waging war against God’ (moharebeh); committing acts against national security; publicly calling the principle of political leadership by the clergy unlawful; having links with anti-revolutionaries and spies; and using the term ‘religious dictatorship’ instead of ‘Islamic Republic’ in public discourse and radio interviews. He was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment on 13 August 2007 and defrocked (banned from wearing his clerical robes and thereby from practicing his clerical duties), and his house and all his belongings were confiscated. His family had appointed lawyers for him but the SCC refused to allow them to defend him on the grounds that only clerics appointed by the Judiciary could make representations on his behalf.”“He is now held in Evin Prison’s Ward for the Clergy: he was imprisoned for advocating the separation of religion and state. He has been under increased pressure to write and sign ‘confessions’. Prison officials have told him at least once, in October 2013, that if he does not write a letter recanting his beliefs, he will never be released.”