Iran reduce Ashtiani sentence, but execute a person every 8 hours!

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has been sentenced to 10 years in jail instead of hanging, according to officials. This ‘pardon’ is certainly due to international pressure as the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said 47 prisoners, or an average of about one person every eight hours, have been put to death since the beginning of the new year.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani: has been sentenced to 10 years in jail instead of hanging, according to officials

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old woman had been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery but Iran did not expect such an strong international outcry led by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International.

The reduction in sentence is certainly good news, however, Drewery Dyke, of Amnesty International, said: "Issuing old news about the fate of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, by way of a letter from a parliamentarian to the president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, is being used to distract from the more pressing news about the rate of executions in the country."

According to the International Campaign for Human Rights, Iran executes more people per capita than any other country, and in absolute numbers is second only to China. Iran executed at least 179 people in 2010 and 388 in 2009.

So while we can celebrate Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s sentence reduction we must not forget the hundreds being executed around the world who have not been lucky enough to have the same international outcry and continue our fight for their right to life.

“Government can’t be trusted to control its own bureaucrats or collect taxes equitably or fill a pothole, much less decide which of its citizens to kill.”

HELEN PREJEAN, Dead Man Walking

End it

JAILBREAK!!!! (it's on like Donkey Kong)

It's second semester so by now your committee staged a battle of the bands, won the bake off, run out of petitions for people to sign and ended poverty and world hunger......twiddling your thumbs thinking of something to do you think....JAILBREAK!!!!

You've fund raised your butt off so you have the $$$$ and your international rep speaks 10 languages so you have skilled personal....the only question remains, who will you free??.......

The old Helicopter escape trick being performed in Brisbane
(if your group has a helicopter pilot you might consider this method)

Zhao Lianhai

Country: China

Guilty of: inciting social disorder

Saved babies lives so they stuck
him in prison

What was he really at?: Your not going to believe this....in 2008 eight babies died and 860 were hospitalised after a chemical was added to milk in order to cause it to appear to have a higher protein content. Zhao became a leader in the movement of parents to get restitution and treatment for their children. He called for a national memorial day for the victims. He also held a memorial ceremony in his home for parents of harmed children.

And they imprisoned him for 2.5 years for that?: Yep

Jailbreak rating: ***** (get Thin Lizzy ready!)



Liu Xiaobo

Country: China (again?...stop picking on the Chinese)

Guilty of: Inciting subversion of state power


A chair wins the Nobel Peace Prize
(the chair promised to hand over
the prize to Liu Xiaobo when it saw him)



What was he really at?: Democracy Lover....tut tut tut. Liu wrote the Charter 08 manifesto published on 10 December 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since its release, more than 10,000 people inside and outside of China have signed the charter.

Didn't he win a prize?: The Nobel Peace Price 2010

Does he know he won it?: Probably not

Jailbreak rating: **** (but you can forget about your career in the Chinese Communist party if you break him out)

Binayak Sen



Country: India



Sedition: Who hasn't done it?



Guilty of: Sedition (isn't that what Gandhi was in prison for?...how ironic)

What was he really at?: A Doctor extending health care to poor people in the rural-tribal areas of India, he has also strongly criticized the government on human rights violations during anti-rebel operations, while advocating non-violent political engagement.

Jailbreak rating: **** (visit the Taj Mahal while we're there)

And finally......

Mordechai Vanunu

Country: Israel

Guilty of: Treason

If a female Mossad agent invites
you to Italy....think really hard about it.

What was he really at?: Trying to stop nuclear apocalypse. Citing his opposition to weapons of mass destruction, revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986. He was subsequently lured to Italy by a female Mossad agent (happens to the best of us), where he was drugged and kidnapped by Israeli intelligence agents

Jailbreak rating: *** (can be found wandering Jerusalem streets so might be the easiest)





Well that's your lot....pick one and get tunnelling!