Iranians Protest for Ganji's Release

As Akbar Ganji’s health declines, some see him as a pawn
to American Neo-Conservative Policy!

Iranians Protest for the Release of the Jailed Journalist

Iranian students protest for jailed reformist journalist Akbar Ganji during a protest in central Tehran July 12, 2005. (Reuters)

Iran’s Nobel Prize Winner speaks out for Akbar Ganji:

Iran’s 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi urged human rights groups on Sunday to pay attention to the “failing” health of the jailed hunger-striking journalist Akbar Ganji, she said in a statement.

Ganji, 46, an outspoken critic of the Islamic state’s clerical leadership, was rushed to a Tehran hospital last Sunday amid growing fears about his health following his a month-long hunger strike, Ganji’s wife told Reuters.

Senior judiciary officials said the investigative journalist had been admitted for knee surgery, denying he was on a hunger strike.

The human rights lawyer Ebadi echoed concerns of Ganji’s family about his health.

“I call on the judiciary and human rights groups to pay serious attention to my client’s dangerous situation,” Ebadi, who is Ganji’s lawyer, said in the statement faxed to Reuters.

Ganji’s family and rights activists say Ganji has lost more than 52 pounds (24 kg) during his 43 days of hunger strike, which he says is a protest against being detained in spite of his chronic asthma and back pain.

Protesters in Iran gather in support of the outspoken critic of the Islamic state’s clerical leadership

However, Iranian Blog-father Hossein Derakhshan says that Ganji is just a symbol to the American neocons and that a dead Ganji gives Bush what he wants in a unifying symbol for “future phases to change Iran from the outside”.

“The more the American right puts more investment in Ganji by its unprecedented support, the more the Islamic Regime would become determined in taking care of Ganji.”

Only a DEAD GANJI would give Mr. Bush a unifying symbol for the future phases of their desperate efforts to change the regime of Iran from outside. That’s why they are all loving him so much. Because a dead Ganji will not be able to have nuanced opinions and could easily be hijacked by the neoconservatives for their own agenda.”

I met Hoder (Hossein Derakhshan) at BlogNashville. I was hoping he was more perceptive than this. Here is the reply to Hoder from DoctorZin atRegime Change Iran:

Your belief that the American right prefers a dead Ganji to a living one is false. It is also sad, because it reveals a total misunderstanding of the American right.

I have been publishing the news on Ganji for years now and I have never met nor published anyone on the American right who fits your caricature.

You may be correct in thinking that Ganji’s support by the American right is keeping him alive. That should be a good thing. But your assumption that the American right prefers a dead Ganji is false on its face.

If the U.S. wanted a dead Ganji as a unifying symbol, why are those on the American right increasing up its support for Ganji? The fact is that a living dissident is a much more powerful symbol for Iranians to emulate.

While you seem to have a low opinion of Ganji, I have admiration for the transformation of this man.

Blogger Stephania, from Free Thoughts, whose opinion I value, is steering away from the “Ganji Story” because of things she has heard about him.

I am not the expert on Ganji. But, what upsets me is the fact that anyone would be twisted enough to think that the Right in America would want to see someone dead for some kind of sick imperialistic reason!

Previous Posts on Reformer Ganji:
Students Protest in Iran
Iran Lectures US on Human Rights

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Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

You can email Jim Hoft here, and read more of Jim Hoft's articles here.

 

Thanks for sharing!