Almost eight months have passed, since the monumental election fraud that took place on 12 June 2009 and saw the current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hold on to the office of Iran’s presidency for another four years. Almost eight months have passed since the spontaneous and yet well disciplined Green Movement of Iran was born. A determined movement that has played an incredible role in the march towards materialising the aspiration of the Iranian people for freedom in their homeland.
A grass roots movement of the colour green was born on the day when those who govern Iran decided that no matter how many millions turned out to vote on Election Day and no matter who they voted for, the Iranian people would not have the final say in choosing their own destiny.
Millions of votes were stolen, many bloodbaths were created, thousands were arrested, and many were beaten and abused in the most unspeakable ways, just so that the so called “Supreme” Leader would be able bestow his blessings upon the illegitimate and incompetent president that he was so fond of. In the end, the “president” and his gang of fraudsters and thugs were allowed to once again take control the country’s most powerful executive body for another four disgraceful years to bring even more shame to the name of Iran and Iranians in the eyes of the world.
And yet after eight months of a systematic campaign of terror and violence, the authorities have not yet been able to keep the Green Movement under control, let alone put an end to it. The illegitimate government has demonstrated time after time its level of incompetence and its willingness to sacrifice the Iranian Nation’s basic interests in dealing with foreign powers, just so that it can make up for its loss of internal support. The Leader is facing the toughest test of his political life and his position has never been more fragile. And very recently, authorities have launched a new campaign of assassinations, in a desperate attempt to maintain their already weakened grip on power.
In light of the current crisis, a group of reformist minded and change seeking Iranians have joined forces and to become a single voice for the green voices of the Iranian people who have sacrificed greatly within these eight months. A voice that promises to echo the voice of millions of Iranians who are sick of lies and deceit. A voice that will hopefully inject new life to the Green Movement. A voice that calls itself The Green Voice of Freedom.
In a statement published by the Persian service of The Green Voice of Freedom, the core principles under which the website plans to operate have been mentioned. These include:
• A cornerstone of the website’s activities is abiding by the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, even if certain clauses are at odds with the opinion or core beliefs of The Green Voice of Freedom administrators. Though we are strongly in favour of reform and improvement in the constitution through legal means, at the same time we recognise that the greater problem at the present time and under the current situation is not the constitution itself, but rather its full and unquestionable implementation; something which has been abandoned by those currently in power. Hence, The Green Voice of Freedom will do its utmost to bring divergences from the constitution to the attention of the public inside and outside Iran.
• Commitment to the reformist path, refraining from radicalism and renouncing of violence. We are dedicated to the reformist path and are against revolutionary changes and anti-establishment sentiment. We have a firm belief in the importance of gradual and long-term reform and the great significance of experience gained in the path towards freedom and justice which is why dirty tactics such as slander, smear campaigns, defamation and character assassination have no place in our code of conduct and belief system, even though these cowardly acts are part of the regular routine of the Iranian government and its supporters.
• Respecting our moral obligations as media. We are fully committed to respecting the moral codes of media and the spread of accurate, documented, credible news and will do our utmost to provide impartial and accurate reporting and analysis.
• The need for change in the current structure of governance. Along with many Iranians, we do not recognise the current government as legitimate, as it came to power through illegal and unethical means which enabled a monumental fraud to take place in the presidential elections of June 2009 and led to the “re-election” of a man by the name of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. We firmly believe that until the day Ahmadinejad remains to be the president of Iran with the unconditional and limitless backing of the Leader who is the main reason for the continuation of this illegitimate and incompetent government, the Green Movement will continue to exist in order to restore the rights of the Iranian people. We have made it our obligation to raise the awareness among the general public. Hence, The Green Voice of Freedom will be available in two languages, Persian and English. It is hoped that the English section will be able to partially make up for the lack of quick and accurate reporting from Iran for non-Persian speakers. The link to the English section of The Green Voice of Freedom website is: http://en.irangreenvoice.com/
The Green Voice of Freedom welcomes and encourages the use of its content in the name of good journalistic and academic integrity. As such we would ask that all content taken from our page be cited accordingly.
With a doubt, the persistent and active collaboration of all of you will help us in filling the gap that exists in fair and balanced reporting of the political turmoil in Iran. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you think you can provide any form of assistance in helping us echoing the true voice of the green people of Iran whose voice has been suppressed by those who will stop at nothing in order to prevent the free flow of information. You can contact us by sending emails this email address: engreenfreedomvoice@gmail.com. It is also possible to receive website content through email. In order to subscribe to our newsletter, you only need to send an email to this address: irangreenvoice@sabznameh.com.
Needless to say that for The Green Voice of Freedom to succeed in carrying out its responsibilities towards the aspirations of the Iranian people and spreading their green message across, it is absolutely crucial for each and every one of our readers to come forward with the means at their disposal.
It is hoped the launch of The Green Voice of Freedom just before the great march of 11 February is a sure sign of many strides to come in the Green Movement’s struggle for freedom and justice for the Iranian nation.
And The Movement lives!