Discussion of Akbar Ganji at the G-8 Summit

Roozonline:

The New York Sun in a lead editorial has written that leaders of the eight industrial nations would do well to discuss the fate of Akbar Ganji, Iran's Vaclak Havel, who is doing hard time in the Islamic Republic's prisons. This reputable paper notes the Ganji family's plea for help from the international community and President Bush's immediate demand for Ganji's release.

The paper predicts that given Mr. Ganji's precarious state of health, European leaders will explore ways to put pressure on the Islamic Republic for his release. Ganji, a journalist and writer critical of the regime, is in the twenty-sixth day of an indefinite hunger strike.

Six years ago Saeed Hajarian, former Deputy Information Minister, accused a group of hardliners of murdering and plotting to kill writers and advocates. One such murder was that of Parvaneh Farouharzadeh whom the hardliners feared would emerge as another Aung San Suu Kyi (a Bermese woman dissident protesting the military authority there.)

Several dissidents imprisoned by the Islamic Republic report that during interrogations they were repeatedly told that Iran refuses to allow any Vaclav Havels to speak out. READ MORE