Blogger "Zeitun" (Olive) writes about the fate of a supporter of Mahmud Ahmadinejad who she says was jailed and tortured after he unintentionally held a picture of the Iranian president upside-down:
I ran into one of my friends who along with his family had voted for Mahmud Ahmadinejad; he looked dejected. He was neither his usual self nor making any jokes about Mir Hossein Musavi supporters. I asked him what had happened and why was he so downcast.
He didn't say anything at first, but I insisted, thinking I would be able to help him and resolve his problem (though later on I found out that neither I nor anyone else could help him). Then he told me the whole story.
One of their relatives, who did volunteer work for Ahmadinejad's campaign headquarters from 6 in the morning till midnight for a period of one month before the election, disappeared on his way home a couple of days after the election.
His family looked for him everywhere including the police stations, hospitals and even at the coroner, but failed to find any trace of him. They didn't lose hope and keep their search on for more than one month. They even inquired among his buddies, who weren't of any help either.
They even suspected that other candidates' supporters might have done something. They looked around all the deserted lots outside Tehran, just in case they might find his corpse.
They had no success whatsoever. But then over a month later, he called home with a faint voice, saying that he had landed in Evin prison. He had implored someone to lend him a mobile phone to make that call. He urged them to rush to his aid.
His family gathered a group of influential clergy who were aware of his campaign activities for Ahmadinejad, and bailed him out of Evin with great difficulty.
He was tortured and given electric shocks to the extent that he is unable to speak properly now. There were scars all over his body.
It was discovered that he had unintentionally hung Ahmadinejad's photo upside down around his neck and was chanting slogans in his favor along with others on the street. Someone took his picture in that position and posted it on the Internet, ridiculing Ahmadinejad's supporters with the caption: "Look at Ahmadinejad's foolish supporters."
They thought he had done such a thing on purpose on the U.S. and Britain's orders and that he was their agent. Hence he was treated in a way that changed him from a healthy and clever person to a sick person who might commit suicide at any time. Now he is no longer able to work and earn bread and butter for his family.
Now this friend of mine, and his family, have all turned against the regime.
He didn't say anything at first, but I insisted, thinking I would be able to help him and resolve his problem (though later on I found out that neither I nor anyone else could help him). Then he told me the whole story.
One of their relatives, who did volunteer work for Ahmadinejad's campaign headquarters from 6 in the morning till midnight for a period of one month before the election, disappeared on his way home a couple of days after the election.
His family looked for him everywhere including the police stations, hospitals and even at the coroner, but failed to find any trace of him. They didn't lose hope and keep their search on for more than one month. They even inquired among his buddies, who weren't of any help either.
They even suspected that other candidates' supporters might have done something. They looked around all the deserted lots outside Tehran, just in case they might find his corpse.
They had no success whatsoever. But then over a month later, he called home with a faint voice, saying that he had landed in Evin prison. He had implored someone to lend him a mobile phone to make that call. He urged them to rush to his aid.
His family gathered a group of influential clergy who were aware of his campaign activities for Ahmadinejad, and bailed him out of Evin with great difficulty.
He was tortured and given electric shocks to the extent that he is unable to speak properly now. There were scars all over his body.
It was discovered that he had unintentionally hung Ahmadinejad's photo upside down around his neck and was chanting slogans in his favor along with others on the street. Someone took his picture in that position and posted it on the Internet, ridiculing Ahmadinejad's supporters with the caption: "Look at Ahmadinejad's foolish supporters."
They thought he had done such a thing on purpose on the U.S. and Britain's orders and that he was their agent. Hence he was treated in a way that changed him from a healthy and clever person to a sick person who might commit suicide at any time. Now he is no longer able to work and earn bread and butter for his family.
Now this friend of mine, and his family, have all turned against the regime.