Sometimes our legal system manages to go after rich and powerful wrongdoers.  Unfortunately, this seems to require horrific crimes and years of waiting.  This is the story of Stephen Flatow, a man who was determined to wring some justice out of the system.

A Grieving Father Pulls a Thread That Unravels Illegal Bank Deals

By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG and BEN PROTESS

New York Times

June 30, 2014 

Stephen Flatow of West Orange, N.J., accused Iran of financing the terrorist group responsible for the suicide bombing that killed his daughter, Alisa, in 1995.

A bus bombing two decades ago — and a New Jersey father’s quest for justice — inadvertently set off a chain of events that led American prosecutors to accuse some of the world’s biggest banks of transferring money for nations like Iran.

On Monday, that crackdown culminated with the guilty plea of BNP Paribas, which admitted to doing billions of dollars in deals with Iran and other countries blacklisted by the United States and agreed to pay a record $8.9 billion penalty to state and federal authorities.

The trail that ultimately led to BNP began in 2006, when the Manhattan district attorney’s office came upon a lawsuit filed by the father, who blamed Iran for financing the Gaza bus bombing that killed his 20-year-old daughter. Buried in the court filings, prosecutors found a stunning accusation: a charity that owned a gleaming office tower on Fifth Avenue was actually a “front” for the Iranian government, a claim that the prosecutors ultimately verified.

The prosecutors soon discovered that Credit Suisse and Lloyds, two of the world’s most prestigious banks, had acted as Iran’s portal to the United States financial system. To disguise the illicit transactions — the United States is closed for business to Iran — Credit Suisse and Lloyds stripped out the Iranian clients’ names from wire transfers to the Fifth Avenue charity and affiliated entities. The findings led the Manhattan prosecutors and the Justice Department in Washington to announce criminal cases against both banks.

As those cases were coming to light in 2009, a whistle-blower stepped forward to point the finger at BNP, France’s biggest bank. That tip has now materialized in a landmark criminal settlement, with BNP pleading guilty to criminal charges, capping a sweeping investigation into how the bank processed billions of dollars on behalf of Sudan and Iran.

The twists and turns leading to the BNP case — a series of whistle-blower tips and fortuitous discoveries recounted in interviews with current and former prosecutors — open a window into the interconnected yet shadowy world of global finance...

Iran clamps down on bloggers, and tries to control the Internet

Clamping down on bloggers? This sounds a lot like what's happening in San Diego.


Iran.ir: an ominous sign
by Saeed Kamali Dehghan
guardian.co.uk
4 February 2010

As Iranian protesters gear up online again, the state is clamping down with a new state service replacing foreign email accounts.

Since the disputed election last June, Ahmadinejad's government has sought different ways to further crack down on the internet in Iran. Now, access to almost all reformist websites is blocked, including those of the reformist candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi.

Last week Iran launched a national webmail service via iran.ir, intended to replace free foreign webmail services with a domestic one that is easier to control...

Recently, officials have blocked access to Google Translate, which has provided English to Persian, Persian to English service since June. But, as has happened in China, is filtering Google the next step?...

Most learned ayatollah in Iran, Hossein Ali Montazeri, mourned by protesters

Mourners Of Iranian Cleric Protest During Funeral
by The Associated Press
December 21, 2009

Tens of thousands of Iranian mourners turned the funeral procession of the country's most senior dissident cleric into an anti-government protest Monday, chanting "death to the dictator" and slogans in support of the opposition amid heavy security.

Witnesses said security forces clamped down in Iran's holy city of Qom where massive crowds streamed in for the funeral rites for Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who died Sunday at age 87.

One opposition Web site reported clashes outside Montazeri's home between security forces and mourners, who threw stones. Iranian authorities have barred foreign media from covering the rites, and witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of arrest.

Montazeri's death pushed Iranian authorities into a difficult spot. They were obliged to pay respects to one of the patriarchs of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the one-time heir apparent to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. But officials also worried that Montazeri's memorials could become new rallying points for opposition demonstrations. The ayatollah broke with Iran's clerical leadership and became a vehement critic, denouncing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and calling the postelection crackdown the work of a dictatorship.

Dear Randy Ward, how about allowing a broadcast by school inmates along the lines of Brixton Prison radio?

It's long been popular to give school kids the opportunity to present news and information to their peers; now this idea seems to have become popular in prisons. Does broadcasting improve the minds of the people who do it? How could it not? It makes them think; it teaches them to speak.

It's too bad students and teachers can't do probing interviews like the Brixton inmate who interviewed the former government minister who was sentenced to prison for perjury (story below).

A lot of problems in schools could be fixed if they weren't covered up by officials. Instead of selling exposure on public television to commercial interests, perhaps San Diego County Office of Education Superintendent Randolph Ward could create a television broadcast in which the inmates of San Diego schools, along with the public, could give real information to voters and taxpayers about schools.



Prison Radio Shines
Forbes
Parmy Olson
05.11.09

A tiny prison radio station in London is competing against the BBC for a prestigious award.

...A tiny prison radio station in South London is up for four prestigious Sony awards on Monday night, putting it alongside the some of the top talent of the BBC and other commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom.

Electric Radio in Brixton Prison is run by the Prison Radio Association, a British charity, and broadcasts to just 800 inmates--but it has a rich array of programming...

Its nominations include an award for talk radio and the all-important Interview Award.

...one of Brixton Prison's inmates interviewed former U.K. government minister Jonathan Aitken, who was sentenced to 18 months in Belmarsh prison in 1999 for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

The interviewer was half-way through a four-year sentence when he conducted the interview, and the two men were "socially, culturally and educationally poles apart," the Prison Radio Association says. But while Aitken comes across as well-spoken and slightly pompous, Tis' is not afraid to ask probing questions, creating an intriguing interview in which Aitken opens up about his divorce, bankruptcy and experiences in jail. The interview can be listened to here...




[Maura Larkins' comment: Perhaps freedom of speech, though it may be the foundation of our country's success, is not popular with education officials. Perhaps Randy Ward and Diane Crosier, who are supporting their lawyer Daniel Shinoff in his defamation lawsuit against me, believe that anyone who tells the truth about their actions should face a court system that has often helped them cover up their actions. Thank goodness they don't have as much power as officials in Iran.]





Blogger jailed in Iran is dead
CNN
March 19, 2009

A young blogger arrested in Iran for allegedly insulting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an Internet posting has died in prison, his attorney said Friday.


The blogger had been jailed for allegedly insulting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an internet posting.

Attorney Mohammad Ali Dadkhah said Omid Mir Sayafi, reported to be in his 20s, died in Evin prison, which is located in Tehran and known for its wing that holds political prisoners.

Dadkhah said a fellow inmate, Dr. Hessam Firouzi, called him Wednesday night with the news -- and said he believed Sayafi would have lived if he received proper medical care.

Dadkhah said Firouzi, an imprisoned human-rights activist, said that he carried a semi-conscious Sayafi to a prison doctor but that he didn't receive the care he needed.

"It was Dr. Firouzi's opinion that if he would've received proper medical attention, he would not have died," Dadkhah said.

He said Sayafi was buried on Thursday and that his calls to the prison asking for an explanation have not been returned.

Dadkhah said Sayafi "sounded OK" at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday when he last spoke to him by telephone. He said the blogger asked for a book about Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, which begins Friday.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, which advocates for activists in the country, quoted Firouzi on its Web site as saying Sayafi suffered from depression and had taken extra doses of medication on Wednesday.

The group blamed Iran's government for unsafe conditions in its prisons.

"Iranian leaders have relegated the administration of the prison system to a group of incompetent and cruel officials who are showing their utter disregard for human life," said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesman for the campaign. "If the authorities do not move quickly to hold negligent officials responsible, they are reinforcing impunity and the lack of accountability."

Sayafi was first arrested in April, then released for 41 days before being arrested again. He was sentenced to 2½ years in prison for comments on a blog that his lawyer argued was intended only for a few friends to read.

Iranian University Invites Bush to Speak

Last week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University. George Bush now has the opportunity to do likewise at a university in Iran.

Below is the story as reported by Voice of America News:
02 October 2007

An Iranian university has invited U.S. President George W. Bush to speak about such issues as the Holocaust, terrorism and human rights. Perhaps Bush fears being introduced in as hostile a manner as Ahmadinejad was introduced in the US.

Iran's Fars news agency reports Ferdowsi University in the northeastern city of Mashhad asked Mr. Bush to attend a question and answer session with students and professors.

The White House says it is not taking the invitation "too seriously."

Spokeswoman Dana Perino says Mr. Bush might consider making the trip if Iran was a free and democratic society and allowed its people freedom of expression, and if Iran was not pursuing nuclear weapons and advocating the destruction of Israel...

In introducing Mr. Ahmadinejad, Columbia University's president, Lee Bollinger, called the Iranian president a "petty and cruel dictator." Iranian state media condemned Bollinger for those remarks.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.