Economist critical of government policies jailed

GVF -- According to Iranian media reports, outspoken economist Fariborz Raisdana has been arrested.

Raisdana, a vocal critic of the government’s proposed subsidy cuts, was arrested after security forces raided his home at 1am local time on Sunday. Raisdana’s wife, Azadeh Forghani and his lawyer Naser Zarafshan, called on all freedom-seekers to help facilitate his release from prison.

Raisdana is a member of the Iranian Writers Association, and has been a constant critic of the government’s plans to slash subsidies on fuel, electricity and basic goods over the next five years, believing that the cuts would harm the middle and lower classes of Iranian society.

“It seems that this arrest carries a message of threat to all those who have criticisms towards the subsidy [cut] plan and the form of its implementation, and the government intends to enforce an atmosphere of suppression in order to advance this plan,” noted Kaleme website, affiliated with opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.

This is not the first time Fariborz Raisdana finds himself behind bars as he has been imprisoned before for questioning the political system in Iran, nevertheless he has continued to call for reforms within Iran. 

His arrest comes as the Ahmadinejad government announced began phasing out energy subsidies on Sunday. 

According to state-run Press TV, under the subsidy reform plane, Iranian consumers who were able to buy a monthly maximum of 60 litres of gasoline at the subsidised price of 1,000 rials a litre, will now have to pay 4,000 rials a litre for 50 litres a month, and 7,000 rials a litre for larger quantities of fuel.