Friday, July 22, 2005

Is Ganji safe in the hospital?

Farideh Nicknazar, Iran Scan:

There is too much conflicting news about Ganji's health and the reason he was rushed to the hospital. Now according to Ganji's wife, Akabar Ganji is still on hunger strike and he was rushed to the hospital because his health deteriorated rapidly. He was not taken to the hospital for knee surgery as the regime (prosecutor's office) wanted us to believe.

Ganji's friends have written a letter to Iran's judiciary chief, Hashemi Shahrudi, asking for his direct involvement. Apparently, Mr. Ganji situation in the hospital is even worse than in prison and he does not even have access to his requested newspapers. He is not allowed visits by his relatives, friends, and lawyers or telephone calls unlike other patients. According to this letter, It seems that the prosecutor's office and prison officials are intentionally releasing false information to the media in order to confuse the public. Please read the whole letter. (thanks ReleaseGanji website for translating)

It is not clear what is the game prosecution's office is playing, but one thing is for certain, according to Masoumeh Shafiei, Akbar Ganji's wife when she said, "God forbid, something happens to Akbar, I don't think THEY will benefit from it."