Iran Fabricates Interpol Involvement in Neda Investigation
A claim made by Iran's Chief of Police, Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, that Interpol was actively seeking the whereabouts of Dr. Arash Hejazi, admitted witness to the murder of Neda Agha-Soltan, has been revealed to be false.
Iran's Press TV earlier reported that Ahmadi-Moqaddam stated Hejazi's whereabouts were "unknown" and that he was wanted by both Interpol and Iran's Intelligence Ministry as part of an investigation into the famously videotaped death of the young woman on the streets of Tehran.
The police chief repeated a claim made by other Iranian authorities that Neda's death was not at the hands of government snipers, but a prearranged 'scenario.' He blames Hejazi for fueling the flames of Western media in a 'psychwar' against Iran.
Dr. Hejazi, a well known Iranian novelist and physician, was seen in the now famous video of the 26-year-old Neda's death attempting to give her aid after she was shot in the chest by a sniper's bullet. He fled to England in the days following the murder and gave an extended interview to the BBC. Hejazi has publicly denied any claim by Iranian police that Interpol was searching for him, stating online that it is "yet another lie" and that he believed that what he did in "trying to save Neda and tell her story was the right thing to do."
CBS News also confirmed with Interpol that any claim of their involvement in searching for Hejazi or investigating Neda's murder is false. A spokesperson for Interpol in Lyon, France, clearly denied the assertion, stating, "We've received nothing from Iran."
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It's impossible to tell if anyone is telling the truth based on their manner, so one can only evaluate the content, and if inclined, look for obvious discrepancies. Let's do that for Hejazi's interview.
He says that he had come down from his nearby office, and he noticed Neda and a man he thought was her father. A demonstration is presumably in progress. Then the Basijs approached throwing tear gas and charging the crowd on motor cycles. Chaos followed, and the crowd ran pell mell from the spot. The good doctor fled down the street to another intersection, you can 'see it on the map', as the Dr. says. Then, surprisingly, the good Dr. finds himself standing one foot from Neda. Why introduce this bit of nonsense? Because Hejazi had to explain how he got from a location near his office to the scene of the shooting.
Then Neda is shot. The Dr. says that he heard the shot and thought nothing of it till he saw that Neda was hit. She fell and he attempted to resusitate her. He notes that the wound was in the front, and that there was no wound on her back. He does not say how he knows this. I've read that Neda was shot in the back.
The Dr. says that at first he thought the shot came from a rooftop. Then he seems to change his story to say that the shot came from one of the Basijs on a cycle. Did the Basijis on cycles follow the crowd?
Hejazi's account the shooter seems absurd. On one hand he was assisting Neda, on the other, he says that he watched the crowd confront the shooter and take his identification, which showed that he was a Basij. Convenient. The crowd pondered, what to do, "we're not like them, we can't kill him", and then they let him go, just keeping his identification card ! What about his cycle? This all strikes me as absurd. Hejazi says he witnessed it all. This also seems absurd, as Hejazi was assisting Neja at the time this all must have transpired.
Hejazi continues with his account. He presumably does not know Neda, does not know what she thinks, and does not know why she was at the spot outside his office, and then at the location where she was shot. Yet, he goes on to say that she died struggling for freedom, to have her vote counted, etc. etc.
You can believe Hejazi if you want. I think more than a grain of salt is warranted.
I wish strength to you. Peace for following this.
I'm not sure a quote from George Eliot applies.
It hurts to imagine:`
If we had a keen vision of all that is ordinary in a human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow or the 'human' heart beat, and we should die of that roar which is the other side of silence. George Eliot would not mind?
I made a small change.
heart: ` 'hummingbird'