In memory of Omid-Reza Mirsayafi 1981-2009

Omid-Reza Mirsayafi was an Iranian blogger who died in prison because he dared to speak out his mind.

Every now and then, very rarely actually, a nation produces a truely free soul.

In Iran, they usually don't last long.

Omid died on March 18. 2009 at the age of 28.

Salute to the last free soul on the Iranian soil.

Omid btw. in Persian means hope.

Rest in peace Omid.

Here is one of his writings from march 2007.

This is part of what it says:

Instead of bending and unbending in prayers for a God dwelling cozily in the seventh heaven I learned to be an insignificant meek person who for the entire world would not take a whit worth of dirty money.
I learned that I am the creator and the created.
I learned that the salvation is not achieved by wandering through the primrose path of sticking to the dogmas and the preordained codes. But it is in having faith in the dignity, nobility and liberty of the human beings.
I learned that humans are not a bunch of weak slaves or debilitated beings, but they are commanding and free agents who can create whatever they wish.
I learned that I have to learn in order to set myself free.
I learned to unlearn whatever I had learned earlier in my life and found my thoughts on a firm and correct base from the scratch.
I learned I had been moving on the wrong track for 20 years. I learned I could be born again in any way I'd want to.

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Vahid Afkari-Political prisoner- Solitary confinement since Sep 2020

The paper says: 'The future does not belong to cowards'