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Thousands of Iranians support opposition telethon

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Thousands of Iranians from across Iran and countries worldwide offered contributions to Simaye Azadi

Broad support for Resistance and Camp Liberty residents is indicative of Iranian people’s determination for regime change

NCRI – Simaye Azadi, the Iran National Television (INTV), held its nineteenth fundraising program lasting 46 hours from July 24 to 28. Thousands of Iranians from across Iran and countries throughout the globe participated in this telethon that was broadcasted live on INTV. Their contributions were predominantly made by calling 39 phone lines allocated to this telethon. Nevertheless, a large number of contributors, who had waited for hours to get through, declared their contributions through internet or social media as the lines proved extremely busy. Some of the contributions were collective fundraisings, and some people inside Iran made their contributions to Simaye Azadi through friends and relatives abroad.

Participants in this telethon were from across the spectrum of the Iranian society, including workers, students, teachers and educators and of all ages from teenagers to the elderly.

Despite the risks posed to them, a number of political prisoners in Evin, Gohardasht (Rajai Shahr) and Central Karaj prisons and from prisons in Kurdistan and Western Azerbaijan provinces declared their solidarity by participating in this fundraising by tapping their very limited resources.

During this fundraising that was concurrent with the 27th anniversary of the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 and the sixth anniversary of the massacre in Camp Ashraf in 2009, participants declared their overwhelming support for the Iranian Resistance and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and PMOI members in Camp Liberty. They called on the United States and the United Nations to secure the protection and fundamental rights of Camp Liberty residents.

Contributions to the INTV have always been a red line for the Iranian regime, and many political prisoners have received long term prison sentences or have even been executed on this charge. Only a year ago, Mr. Gholamreza Khosravi, a political prisoner in Ward 350 of Evin Prison, was badly injured in a savage raid by the regime’s revolutionary guards and suppressive forces on this ward. He was steadfast against the torturers who employed all means to force him to abandon his cause. He was finally executed by the regime’s henchmen after suffering the most intolerable tortures for 12 years while he had been only condemned to five years in prison. Prior to that, Mr. Mohsen Dogmechi, a political prisoner in the 1980s and a respected Tehran merchant that had been arrested for his monetary contribution to the PMOI and because his daughter was in Camp Ashraf, was tormented to death in March 2011 by being deprived of medical treatment after suffering years of torture in prison while he had cancer.

In the past three decades, Simaye Azadi has portrayed the dreadful situation of human rights violations in Iran, revealed the Iranian regime’s terrorism and nuclear projects, and has reflected the rightful desire of the Iranian people for freedom and democracy while receiving the broad support of the Iranian people in doing so. As such, the religious fascism ruling Iran has bent backwards to disrupt reception of INTV programs in Iran, including by constantly broadcasting jamming signals. Reciprocally, Iranians inside the country and abroad have turned their support for INTV into a scene of their confrontation with the Iranian regime and an indication of their solidarity with the Iranian Resistance. They have actively participated to enable Simaye Azadi to continue with its activities and to expand and improve its programs.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran

July 28, 2015