One week ago I wrote this posting in French: « F comme Freidoune – et ouvrons-leur nos portes quand ils en auront besoin . » , which means basically translated « F like Freidoune – and we should open our doors when they will need us». It was a little text concerning my hesitation about the person of Mousavi, – the ignorance of the media concerning his political career as he was prime minister of the Iranian republic. But as John Simpson wrote recently , „I remember interviewing him in the 1980s, and I cannot say he impressed me then as being particularly liberal; rather the contrary. But he is certainly different now.“ (Concerning Moussavi I also wrote a short posting in French „moussavi héro malgré lui “ discussing the analyze of Ulrike Putz of Moussavi in Spiegelonline „Held wider Willen“). Perhaps Mousavi has changed now. Most of the part of the posting as the title describes it, was dedicated to consequences what we perhaps could call the week of the „green marching“ in Tehran last week. One week ago in my posting I feared that the green marching would end or in a bloody oppression (Que l’espoir de liberté en Iran soit coulé dans un bain de sang), or in cold repression and massive intimidation (simplement anéanti par une répression froide et une intimidation massive ) by the Iranian government, – and appealed to the European government , in fact „nos frontiers“ – means particularly France and Germany, countries where I live – to open the frontiers for the Iranian refugees that I expected to come.
I also remembered in this posting that in 1956, after the 1956 Budapest insurrection Austria, the small state of Austria opened their borders for 70.000 refugees from Hungary, – more than 200.000 transited Austria to gain mainly West-Germany, Canada and the U.S. Now a week has passed and the news coming from Tehran are not inspiring confidence, – I fear that what I wrote last week could become a real scenario – in the next days – or is a real scenario – . Marie Claude Decamps from Le Monde tells her « Vives inquiétudes en Iran sur le sort des victimes de la répression » sorrows concerning the victims of repression in Iran. One could read in Spiegelonline Ajatollha fordert Todesstrafe für Regimegegner that Ajatollha Ahmed Chatami claimed death penalty for the leaders of the mass protests in Iran. Actually massive repression is on the Agenda in Tehran.
No good news from Tehran, – exactly as I feared it last week. As I wrote last week – «ouvrons-leur nos portes quand ils en auront besoin » – «we should open our doors when they will be knocking and ask for our help». We should grant them political asylum and also if necessary protect them, because I could be that they also will need our protection here in Europe, – just remember Shapour Bakhtiar and many others. I hope that France, Germany, the U.S. – the free states of the world will grant asylum to those who will flee the repression in Iran. I hope, but I am not sure – they will. Last week our media were celebrating the Teheran demonstrators as heroes, – but will anyone celebrating them – when they will stand at our borders and demand a safe haven and protection in our countries? I hope we will not forget them.
Christophe Neff, Grünstadt 28.6.2009
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