Last year's Ganji

I've always loved browsing the old newspaper archives. I just rediscovered my love when I came across to this story on Ganji last year when he was shortly released right before the presidential elections in June.

A former executive committee member of Tahkim Vahdat, Iran's largest student organization, Ali Afshari said yesterday that based on his contacts in Iran among Mr. Ganji's supporters, he believes Mr. Ganji will not flee the country.

"He is a hero and has many people around him," he said. "Based on my personal knowledge of Mr. Ganji's personality and commitment to a transparent political position, I doubt he will ever leave Iran and I think he will stay."

Mr. Afshari added that there was no technical warrant for his arrest, but if there were, he believes Mr. Ganji would abide by the law and "deal with his situation in the most transparent manner." Mr. Afshari left Iran last October to study at the University of Dublin. He arrived in America in February and is now continuing his studies in Texas.

However, another American-based Iranian human rights activist yesterday said that by not returning to jail, Mr. Ganji was taking a brave stance in the tradition of civil disobedience.

"This is part of his civil disobedience," Ramin Ahmedi said yesterday. "He will not obey the unjust order. But he has proved that he is willing to pay that price. I think he does communicate a message to people around him by refusing to go. These are the small first acts of building that movement. "

Mr. Ahmedi said yesterday that Mr. Ganji's task now was to use his leadership to build and sustain a civil rights movement in Iran. "He has emerged as a leader. He is extremely popular among the activists from all parts of the spectrum. You have a leader and he has to build that movement."

Source: http://www.nysun.com/article/30380?page_no=2