some updated news: Thanks to a friend I got these news and wanted to inform you: Please try to help us to distribute this news.
1. Ramin is still under arrest and has not been permitted to see his family although it has been more than 3 weeks. His wife says over the phone he sounds mentally and physically tired. he is subjected to minimmum hours of repeated interrogation.
2. Ramin's mom Khojasteh KIA is hospitalized in the CCU (Cardiac Care Unit) due to high stress she has because of this event. they let her go home but still she is not very well.
A collective decision has been made—with the family's consent—that a subdued approach is no longer expedient. Despite vague promises Ramin's interrogators have not delivered on any requests to a) explain the formal charges against him or b) let him see his family. We will continue the high level domestic and international interventions, but from talking to others with experience in these matters it becomes clear that outside pressure, if done correctly, can be highly effective. A concern that many of us have is that Ahmadi-Nejad and Rowhani's letter, US-Iran relations, and the nuke issue are overshadowing Ramin's cause—we need to make sure this is not the case.
As such, I wanted to let you all know that we are no longer holding back. If you are asked to comment in the media please feel free to do so, and feel free to take personal initiatives to make sure that Ramin's case is not forgotten. I have been overdue in creating a one- page fact sheet about Ramin, essentially bullet points to keep everyone on the same page. This would simply emphasize Ramin's credentials as a non-political, non-partisan, philosopher and intellectual and someone who has always espoused non-violence.
According to a close friend of Ramin in Tehran we should keep in mind the following when writing letters of appeal or doing media interventions:
1. Internationalize the case as much as possible, to make it clear that it is not only a US and Canadian-led effort. Contacts w/ European and non-Western periodicals, media, and intellectuals is very useful.
2. The nature of Ramin's intellectual work
3. The unacceptability of detaining someone for " contacts with foreigners " (Minister of Intelligence)
4. The unacceptability of holding someone without charges.
5. The pain and stress unjustly produced for the family (mother admitted to CCU)
6. The demand to let Ramin's wife see him, as she has requested.
7. The political consequences: accusing Ramin Jahanbegloo of improper contacts with foreign countries is an unacceptable accusation to the many countries that have invited him and worked with him on a number of cultural initiatives, and an insult to their ambassadors in Tehran, many of whom have maintained for years close relations with him.
