Saaed Mortazavi To Oversee Iran protesters questioning

Saaed Mortazavi has been empowered to interrogate leaders of Iran’s governmental opposition. Mortazavi is responsible for helping keep a stranglehold on media news in Iran.
The government’s use of Mortazavi, also known as “Butcher of the press” and “torturer of Tehran,” is sending warning alarms to human rights watchers. Mortazavi has been the prosecutor of Iran since 2003.

Mortazavi was behind Roxana Saberi’s arrest earlier this year. His name is also linked to the arrest, torture, rape and death of Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi.

Times Online reports:

Reporters without Borders concurs: “It was Mortazavi who was chiefly responsible for Canadian-Iranian press photographer Zahra Kazemi’s death.”

Mortazavi has been behind the closure of 100 newspapers in Iran. He is also reponsible for bloggers and journalists being arrested and in some cases killed.

Raw Story reports:
[quote“I have no doubt that these protesters will be treated just as brutally as Ms. Kazemi, maybe worse,” said Shahram Azam, a doctor who, in 2005, testified to a Canadian court that Kazemi had been tortured.

Protesters who are being detained by Iran after the recent election could be face to face with Saaed Mortazavi.

Cafe Sentido.com reports:

“The leading role of Saeed Mortazavi in the crackdown in Tehran should set off alarm bells for anyone familiar with his record,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East and North Africa director of Human Rights Watch.

Mortazavi has been a central figure in Iran’s crackdown on dissenters. He has seen to the arrest of aides to the top opposition figures.

Mortazavi is said to have a history of detaining women for “immodest” clothing.

It is said that the government’s use of Mortazavi shows that they will be ruthless to crush the uprising in Tehran.

Jackson said to be in good shape the night before he died

How could a man who appeared on the top of the world and full of energy one night drop dead of a sudden cardiac arrest the next day? Those who with Jackson prior to his death say he was in good shape the night before he collapsed at his home.
Jackson was working with a personal trainer in order to prepare for the shows. According to those who were working on the show Jackson was involved in every step of the process, from choreography to watching auditions of the dancers.

Those who were with Jackson on the night prior to his death are saying that the singer was happy and in good shape as he prepared from 50 shows in London at rehearsals in Los Angeles.

Kenny Ortega, the director of Jackson’s show says that he stood side by side with Jackson as they beamed with ‘gladness’ about the upcoming concerts.

Magician-comedian Ed Alonzo echoes Ortega’s feelings of the eve of Jackson’s death.

Nine MSN reports:

Another member of the rehearsal, magician-comedian Ed Alonzo, added: “He didn’t even take a moment to grab a bottle of water or take a rest. He went from one number to the other. ‘Let’s do that again.’

“He looked great and had great energy. He wasn’t singing at full level, but it was as beautiful as ever.”

Max Miller is another who was at the last rehearsal. Miller, a dispatch manager at the studio observed Jackson practice the transition routine between two songs with no music.

The Age reports:

“He was totally dancing like top-notch. He seemed totally good,” Miller said.

“He seemed totally cool and really focused.”

Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of Grammy Awards, had a business meeting with Jackson at the studio on Wednesday night. He is said to have been amazed by the vitality and focus Jackson had as he practiced moves with his backup dancers.

The Age reports:

“There was this one moment, he was moving across the stage and he was doing these trademark Michael moves, and I know I got this big grin on my face, and I started thinking to myself, ‘You know, it’s been years since I’ve seen that,”‘ he said.

“There was that Michael that was just like no one else and no one else could touch,” he said.

“The shame is that new generation won’t see that – but we all came close to being able to see it again.”

Less than 12 hours after the rehearsal ended Jackson was in cardiac arrest. He collapsed at his home with his personal physician, Conrad Murray present. Dr. Murray is a cardiologist who was hired by AEG Live to be with Jackson in London during his series of concerts.

Murray’s employment is not a common practice in the show business world as The Guardian reports.

“As a company we would have preferred not having a physician on staff full-time because it would have been cheaper without the hotels and travel, but Michael was insistent that he be hired,” Phillips told the Associated Press. “Michael said he had a rapport with him.”

The actual cause of death is yet to be determined but many are speculating that Jackson had a heart attack. There are also reports that drugs could have been a factor in his death. Because of that, Murray’s car has been seized by the police. The police believe that it could contain drugs or other evidence. Murray is not considered a criminal suspect in the case.

The shows have multiple insurance policies that covered them in case of cancellation. That coverage may very well though depend on what the toxicology results are.

The Guardian quotes his older brother Jermaine’s announcement of Michael’s death.

“My brother, the legendary King of Pop Michael Jackson, passed away on Thursday 25 June 2009 at 2.26pm,” he told a press conference at the hospital.

“It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until results of the autopsy are known.

“His personal physician who was with him at the time attempted to resuscitate my brother, as did the paramedics who transported him to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre. Upon arriving at the hospital at approximately 1.14pm, a team of doctors including emergency physicians and cardiologists attempted to resuscitate him for a period of more than hour, and they were unsuccessful.”

The Reverend Jesse Jackson is saying that Jackson’s family also said that the singer was in good health prior to his death.

The death of a young chef sparks protests in Shishou City

The death of a young man in the Hubei Province of China is sparking protests. As many as 70,000 people have barred the police from removing the body of a young man who fell to his death from a third floor at a local hotel in Shishou City.
The public has been protesting what they believe is governmental corruption, torture and murder.

On June 17 the young man’s body was found in front of the Yonglong Grand Hotel’s entrance. On June 20 a Public Security Office released a statement about the incident.

The dead man is Tu Yuangao, a chef, who had left behind a suicide letter. The preliminary medical exam found no other fatal wounds on the body and ruled out murder. The family rejected attempts by the police to remove the body for an autopsy.

Eyewitnesses report that they saw no blood on the ground but did see blood clots around the man’s mouth, nose and ears. They also reported that the lower body of the man showed signs of severe torture.

The family was offered $5,200 on June 18 as compensation if they confirmed that their relative had indeed committed suicide. They were told if they did not the body would be taken away by force and cremated that evening.

The father of Tu Yuangao, 24, refused the offer. He said that he had cans of chemicals and that he would kill himself and anyone else who attempted to seize his son’s body.

By June 19 there were 2,000 people who had gathered around the hotel to help the father’s desire that the authorities not remove the body. The entrance to the hotel had been blocked to prevent the police to enter. Over a dozen people were beaten and taken to a detention center without receiving medical treatment.

Chinese media goes against these reports saying that there were no injuries during the protest.

China Daily reports:

“A handful of people have been detained, but I don’t know if they will be charged or given detention,” an official from Jingzhou publicity office surnamed Xiong, said yesterday.

That only served to fuel the anger of the people.

Radio Free Asia reports:

“We believe this may relate to some kind of illegal activities and drug issues going on in the hotel that resulted in the deaths of certain people. There have already been five mysterious homicide cases at the hotel, but only two cases have been solved,” Huang, one of the protesters said.

By that afternoon there were as many as 40,000 people on the streets near the hotel. The protesters were said to be throwing bricks and bottles at the police.

By early evening riot police had arrived on the scene using water hoses on the crowds. The crowd instead of leaving destroyed the fire trucks supplying the water. The riot police then used tear gas on the crowd.

On June 20 China’s media Xinhua released a report titled Many Departments in Hubei’s Shishou City Jointly Organized a Fire Drill for Vehicle Fires.

Bloggers reports on the incident from within China were removed by the government.

According to those that reside in Shishou there have been at least two other mysterious deaths at the same hotel. One took place in 1999 and the other in 2007.

Those in the city say that the hotel is a hotbed of criminal activity. It is believed that the young chef knew of secrets and those secrets cost him his life.

There are reports that the body of Tu Yuangao has been removed by the police but there is no confirmation on this report.

Radio Free Asia reports:

“A lot of armed police came and took the body away,” another protester said. “They detained a few people as well.”

“They persuaded the family to let it go after they agreed to go through a formal autopsy. We were just watching from the outside. At one point there were around 10,000 of us,” he said.

Shanghai Daily reports that the body was cremated at 4am and a funeral was held around 9:30am on Thursday.