Three months now pass from the start of the mass and illegal arrests that began shortly after the June 12 presidential elections in Iran but there is little to show that the state has gained through its measures.

Every reasonable person must have noticed that after sustaining so much political and image damage through the imposition of an electoral coup, not a significant benefit has come to those who pursued them.

Today, people are no longer calling for the resignation of state authorities because their hands are tied to crimes and violates that have taken place. During these last three months, government officials arrested and imprisoned anyone they wished in solitary prison cells and subjected many to the most cruel physical and psychological torture to strengthen their shaky dictatorial rule. But these efforts are futile and anything they do now will only make things worse.

During this time television screens have displayed images of shows that they labeled “trials” and aired “confessions” that nobody believes in and which have confirmed to everyone that all were obtained through torture. Who can believe that Saeed Hajjarian, with his disabled body on that wheelchair, made those remarks and requests for apology voluntarily, rebuking what he had done all his life?

Many still remain behind bars and these are the people whose resistance has frustrated their interrogators and judges. For them, neither solitary confinement has worked nor other pressures, of which only God is aware. They now remain with individuals such as Mohsen Mirdamadi whose patience has exacerbated the efforts of the interrogators.

Mirdamadi is a person whose personality is inherently mixed with his love for freedom, which shows in all his words and writings. He is in reality a free man even in those prison clothes that he has to wear. And he will also be the winner no matter where he stands in a trial or the courtroom. The memories of the Nowruz newspaper trials are vivid to many when Mirdamadi presented a defense not just of himself but of the people and thus turned the table against the court and the prosecutor.

And as state agents have been pondering what to do with Mirdamadi, they recently decided to arrest his son Mehdi to exert more pressure on him and break his resistance and will. And so they raided Mehdi’s house. They did it at midnight during the holy month of Ramadan, like thieves normally do. And they did it as Mehdi’s son Mostafa was only a few weeks of age. Should all this fail, they may even decide to arrest the newly arrived Mostafa. Or perhaps they plan to extend arrests and tortures to the whole family. Perhaps they intend to have mass punishments for the spouses, and children of political prisoners as well.

But is it right to remain silent in the face of such atrocities? Has this depth and width of corruption and cruelty left any room for negotiation and acceptance? Is there no honest judge left in the country’s judiciary who will protest against these blatant crimes that take place in the name of justice and Islam? Is there no one there to tell the head of the judiciary and other rulers of the Islamic republic that if you lack a religion, at least show some honesty and dignity.

So, what kind of faith and religion do these people really follow or believe in?