12 Political Prisoners Formerly on Hunger Strike Transferred to General Ward- Momeni, Ahmadi-Amouei & Samimi Still in Solitary

12 Political Prisoners Formerly on Hunger Strike Transferred to General Ward- Momeni, Ahmadi-Amouei & Samimi Still in Solitary


17 August 2010 16:43

Tuesday August 17th, 2010- Summary:  12 of the political prisoners  formerly on hunger strike were transferred from solitary confinment to  the general ward at Evin's ward 350. They described Abdollah Momeni,  Bahman Ahmadi-Amouei, Keyvan Samimi in good spirits, but expressed grave  concern for the physical well being of Keyvan Samimi.

After  22 days in solitary confinement, 12 of the political prisoners formerly  on hunger strike were finally transferred back to the general ward 350  at Evin.  Abdollah Momeni, Bahman Ahmadi-Amouei and Keyvan Samimi remain  in solitary confinement and Samimi has yet to break his hunger strike.

According  to reports received from Evin, these 12 prisoners remain in high  spirits but have lost weight and are physically weak. Despite being  transferred to the general ward these prisoners have NOT had any contact  with their families as of yet.

The prisoners transferred  to the general ward,  described Abdollah Momeni, Bahman Ahmadi-Amouei,  Keyvan Samimi in good spirits, but expressed grave concern for the  physical well being of Keyvan Samimi.

According to  reliable sources at Evin, the prisoners who had just been transferred  from solitary confinement stated that Keyvan Samimi will break his  hunger strike once Abdollah Momeni and Bahman Ahmadi-Amouei are also  transferred to the general ward.

Majid Tavakoi, student  activist and one of the protesters formerly on hunger strike was  transferred from Evin to Rajai Shahr prison yesterday.  It is worth  mentioning that Reza Malek, long time political prisoner remains in  solitary confinement in Evin's ward 350.

Ali Malihi,  student activist and member of Daftar-e Tahkim Vahdat  (student alumni  organization), Bahman Ahmad Amouie, journalist, Hossein  Nourinejad,  journalist and member of the Participation Front (reformist  party),  Abdollah Momeni, student activist and spokesperson for Daftar-e  Tahkim  Vahdat, Ali Parviz, student activist, Hamid Reza Mohammadi,  political  activist, Jafar Eghdami, civil society activist, Babak  Bordbar, photo  journalist, Zia Nabavi, starred student and member of the  Council to  Defend the Right to Education, Ebrahim (Nader) Babaie, civil  society  activist and an injured veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, Kouhyar  Goodarzi,  human rights activist and blogger, Majid Dori, student  activist, Majid  Tavakoli, student activist, Keyvan Samimi, journalist,  Gholam Hossein  Arashi, Mohammad Hossein Sohrabi Rad arrested during an Ashura protest  in Tehran are amongst the  prisoners transferred to solitary confinement  who had been on a hunger strike for  two weeks.



Source: Kaleme: http://www.kaleme.com/1389/05/26/klm-29229

With 47 journalists in jail, Iran sets notorious records

Jailed reporter Shiva Nazar Ahari

New York, February 3, 2010—Iranian authorities are now holding at least 47 journalists in prison, more than any single country has imprisoned since 1996, according to a new survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists. While many of the detainees were arrested in the aftermath of the disputed June presidential election, CPJ’s survey found that authorities are continuing to wage an aggressive campaign to round up independent and opposition journalists. At least 26 journalists have been jailed in the last two months alone, CPJ found.

The number of jailed journalists is the highest CPJ has recorded in a single country since December 1996, when it documented 78 imprisonments in Turkey.

“The relentlessness of the press crackdown in Iran demonstrates that authorities continue to fear new ideas and information,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Our goal is not simply to document the brutality, but to let the government know that the world is watching.”

Mashallah Shamsolvaezin (AP)

CPJ’s findings are based on a census of imprisoned Iranian journalists conducted on February 1. The survey is a snapshot of those incarcerated on that date. It does not include more than 50 other journalists in Iran who have been imprisoned and released on bail over the last several months. Five of those now in jail were detained prior to the 2009 crackdown.

The current detainees include internationally known figures such as Emadeddin Baghi, the author and human rights defender, and Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, an award-winning editor and press advocate. They also include journalists such as Mohammad Davari, an editor who helped expose prisoner abuse at the Kahrizak Detention Center, and Shiva Nazar Ahari, a human rights reporter who has been jailed twice in the last eight months.

Emadeddin Baghi (AFP)

In most cases, authorities have filed vague antistate charges such as “propagation against the regime,” insulting authorities, and disrupting public order. But many cases are shrouded in secrecy, without even formal charges being disclosed.

Some detainees have already been sentenced to lengthy prison terms, lashes, internal exile, and lifetime bans on writing and other social and political activities. One is on death row. The cases of many others are pending. At least two face heresy charges that, upon conviction, would bring the death penalty.

In light of the Iranian government’s ongoing crackdown, CPJ will conduct monthly surveys of journalists imprisoned in Iran. (CPJ normally conducts a worldwide survey of jailed journalists each December.)

Iran is now far and away the world’s leading jailer of journalists. China was holding 24 journalists behind bars when CPJ conducted its worldwide census on December 1, 2009. CPJ research shows the number in China has remained stable since that time.

Here are capsule reports on each journalist jailed in Iran:

Adnan Hassanpour, Aso
Imprisoned: January 25, 2007
Security agents seized Hassanpour, former editor for the now-defunct Kurdish-Persian weekly Aso, in his hometown of Marivan, Kurdistan province, according to news reports.

A Revolutionary Court convicted Hassanpour in July 2007 of endangering national security and engaging in propaganda against the state, one of his attorneys, Sirvan Hosmandi, told CPJ. The journalist was sentenced to death. A court of appeals overturned the death sentence in September 2008 and ordered a new trial on charges of “working for outlawed parties” and espionage, according to the BBC. In November 2009, a trial court convicted Hassanpour on the new charges and re-imposed the death sentence, the BBC said.

Mohammad Seddigh Kaboudvand, Payam-e Mardom
Imprisoned: July 1, 2007 Plainclothes security officials arrested journalist and human rights activist Kaboudvand at his Tehran office, according to Amnesty International and CPJ sources. He is being held at Evin Prison in Tehran.

Authorities accused Kaboudvand, head of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan and managing editor of the weekly Payam-e Mardom, of acting against national security and engaging in propaganda against the state, according to his organization’s Web site. A Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced him to 11 years in prison.

Mojtaba Lotfi, freelance
Imprisoned: October 8, 2008
A clergyman and blogger, Lotfi was arrested by security forces on a warrant issued by the religious ‎Clergy Court in Qom. Authorities accused him of publishing the views of Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who had criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s positions.

Authorities did not specify particular articles or publications in which the views were supposedly cited. Lotfi was convicted of several charges, including spreading antistate information, and sentenced to four years in prison, according to news reports.

Hossein Derakhshan, freelance Imprisoned: November 2008
On December 30, 2008, a spokesman for the Iranian Judiciary confirmed in a press conference in Tehran that Derakhshan, a well-known Iranian-Canadian blogger, had been detained since November 2008 in connection with comments he allegedly made about a key cleric, according to local and international news reports.

The exact date of Derakhshan’s arrest was unknown, but news of his detention first appeared on November 17, 2008, on Jahan News, a Web site close to the Iranian intelligence apparatus. At the time, Jahan News reported that he had confessed to “spying for Israel” during the preliminary interrogation.

Derakhshan started blogging after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. A former writer for reformist newspapers, he also contributed opinion pieces to The Guardian of London and The New York Times. The journalist, who lived in Canada during most of the last decade, returned to Tehran a few weeks prior to his detention, The Washington Post reported.

In November, the BBC Persian service reported that Derakhshan’s family had sought information about his whereabouts and the charges he faced and expressed concern about having very limited contact with him.

Nader Karimi Jooni, Jahan-e-Sanat, Sharq, Gozaresh, Fekr, and Siasat-e-Rooz
Imprisoned: December 2008
Jooni, arrested in late 2008, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on January 11, 2010, at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court. He was convicted on charges of mutiny, espionage, and acting against national security, according to the reformist Web site Kalame. He denied the charges and said the case was politicized.

Jooni, who was an editor and writer for now-defunct publications such as Gozaresh, Fekr, Jahan-e Sanat, and Siasat Rooz, was placed in Evin Prison’s Ward 209, where political prisoners are held. He is an Iran-Iraq War veteran who requires ongoing medical care, according to reformist news Web site Kalame.

Ahmad Zaid-Abadi, freelance Imprisoned: June 2009
Zaid-Abadi, who wrote a weekly column for Rooz Online, a Farsi- and English-language reformist news Web site, was arrested in Tehran, according to news reports. Zaid-Abadi is also the director of the Organization of University Alumni of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a supporter of defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi. Mahdieh Mohammadi, Zaid-Abadi’s wife, was allowed to see the journalist after he had spent 53 days in custody, according to the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. He told her that he was being held in inhumane conditions.

Zaid-Abadi was among more than 100 opposition figures and journalists who faced a mass, televised judicial proceeding in August on vague antistate accusations, according to local and international news reports. In November, he was sentenced to six years in prison, five years of exile in Gonabad, Razavi Khorasan province, and a lifetime deprivation of social and political activities, according to the Committee of Human Rights Reporters.

Omid Salimi, Nesf e Jehan
Imprisoned: June 14, 2009
Salimi, a photographer who worked for Nesf e Jehan newspaper in Esfahan, was arrested after being summoned by the Revolutionary Guards to pick up belongings‎ confiscated during an earlier arrest, according to Human Rights and ‎Democracy Activists in Iran, a local human rights watchdog. Salimi had been detained in ‎December 2008 and had spent three months in prison on unspecified charges.

After his most recent arrest, Salimi was ‎transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran, according to the Iranian Human Rights Activists ‎New Agency.‎ No formal charges have been disclosed.

Kayvan Samimi, Nameh
Imprisoned: June 14, 2009
Samimi, manager of the now-defunct monthly Nameh, is being held in Evin Prison after his arrest in Tehran, according to news reports. Samimi called his family in October to tell them that he was pressured to make a false confession, his lawyer told Rooz Online.

Samimi was charged with “creating public anxiety,” and “congregation and mutiny to disrupt national security,” his lawyer told Zamaneh Radio. Samimi was found guilty of the charges on February 2, 2010, and sentenced to six years imprisonment and a lifetime deprivation of political activities, according to the U.S. government-funded Radio Farda.

Saeed Laylaz, Sarmayeh
Imprisoned: June 17, 2009
Laylaz, editor of the daily business journal Sarmayeh and a vocal critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s economic policies, was arrested at home on June 17, his wife, Sepharnaz Panahi, told the BBC Persian service. She said that officers searched their home and confiscated videotapes, hard drives, and letters.

Laylaz was among more than 100 opposition figures and journalists who faced a mass, televised judicial proceeding in August on vague antistate accusations, according to local and international news reports. He spent 100 days in solitary confinement at Tehran’s Evin Prison before being moved to a group cell, where he was denied newspapers, pen, and paper, his wife told the Committee of Human Rights Reporters.

Laylaz was charged with “congregation and mutiny against national security, propagation against the regime, disrupting public order, and keeping classified documents,” according to Mowjcamp, a news Web site supportive of the defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

After a two-hour trial in November, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency and online accounts. His wife told the news Web site Kalameh that the “classified document” that was a centerpiece of the prosecution was actually a published and widely available investigation into the Iranian judiciary.

Bahman Ahmadi Amouee, freelance
Imprisoned: June 19, 2009
Amouee, a contributor to reformist newspapers such as Mihan, Hamshahri, Jame’e, Khordad, Norooz, and Sharq, and the author of an eponymous blog, was arrested with his wife, Zhila Bani-Yaghoub, according to news reports. Bani-Yaghoub, editor-in-chief of the Iranian ‎Women’s Club, a news Web site focusing on women’s rights, was released on bail on August 19, according to the ‎BBC Persian service.

Amouee was being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, part of the time in solitary confinement, according to news reports. Amouee’s wife said the journalist was denied access to his family and lawyer for several weeks, according to Mowjcamp, a news Web site ‎supportive of the reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

On January 5, 2010, Amouee was sentenced to 34 lashes, along with seven years and four months in prison.

Issa Sahar-Khiz, freelance
Imprisoned: July 3, 2009
Sahar-Khiz, a columnist for the reformist news Web sites Rooz Online and Norooz and a founding member of the Association of Iranian ‎Journalists, was arrested while traveling in northern Iran, the association said in a ‎statement. ‎Sahar-Khiz’s lawyer said his client faces charges of “participation in riots,” “encouraging others to participate in riots,” and “insulting the supreme leader,” according to Rooz Online. Sahar-Khiz has had a long career in journalism. He worked for 15 years for IRNA, Iran’s official news agency, and ran its New York office for part of that time. He returned to Iran in 1997 to work in Mohammad Khatami’s Ministry of Islamic Guidance, in charge of domestic publications. Sahar-Khiz and a superior, Ahmad Bouraghani, came to be known as the architects of a period of relative freedom for the press in Iran. After Sahar-Khiz was forced to leave the ministry and was banned from government service in a trial, he founded a reformist newspaper, Akhbar-e Eghtesad, and monthly magazine, Aftab, both of which were eventually banned. Sahar-Khiz wrote articles directly critical of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.

Massoud Bastani, Farhikhtegan and Jomhoriyat
Imprisoned: July 5, 2009
Bastani, a journalist for the reformist newspaper Farihikhtegan and Jomhoriyat, a news Web site affiliated with the ‎defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, was arrested when he ‎went to a Tehran court seeking information about his wife, journalist Mehsa Amrabadi, according to local news reports. Amrabadi, arrested ‎along with two other journalists on June 15, was released on August 25.

Bastani was among more than 100 opposition figures and journalists who faced a mass, televised judicial proceeding in August on vague antistate accusations, according to news reports. In ‎September, his lawyer, Mohammad Sharrif, told the Amir Kabir Newsletter Web site that ‎Bastani had spent weeks in solitary confinement.

On October 20, the news site Norooz reported that a court had sentenced Bastani to six years in prison for “propagating against the regime and congregating and mutinying to create anarchy.”

Bastani had been editor-in-chief of the now-banned Neda-ye Eslahat (Voice of Reform) weekly.

Marjan Abdollahian, Hamshahri
Imprisoned: July 9, 2009‎
The BBC Persian service and other news outlets reported that authorities had detained Abdollahian, a photo editor for the Tehran-based Hamshahri newspaper. ‎Six days after her arrest, she called her family to inform them that she was being held in Evin Prison, according to the news Web site Rooz Online. No formal charges have been disclosed.

Saeed Matin-Pour, Yar Pag and Mouj Bidari
Imprisoned: July 12, 2009
A Revolutionary Court in Tehran convicted Matin-Pour of having “relations with foreigners and propagating against the regime,” according to local news reports. He was sentenced to an eight-year prison term.

Matin-Pour‎ was first arrested in May 2007 and released on bail. He was rearrested in 2009 amid the government’s crackdown on the press. The journalist worked for Yar Pag and Mouj Bidari newspapers in western Azerbaijan province, in addition to writing his own blog, according to local news reports. Matin-Pour suffers from heart and respiratory problems, and his family was not immediately able to secure a medical release for examination outside prison, according to the news Web site Advarnews.

More than 100 dissidents and journalists faced vague antistate accusations during a mass, televised judicial proceeding in August. (AP)

Reza Nourbakhsh, Farhikhtegan
Imprisoned: August 4, 2009‎
Authorities took Nourbakhsh, editor-in-chief of the reformist newspaper Farhikhtegan, into custody after searching his home, according to news reports. Nourbakhsh also contributed to Jomhoriyat, a news Web site supportive of the defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

Nourbakhsh was among more than 100 opposition figures and journalists who faced a mass, televised judicial proceeding in August on vague antistate accusations, according to news reports. He was sentenced to six years in prison on November 3, although the exact charges against him were not disclosed.

Mohammad Hossein Sohrabi Rad, Saham News
Imprisoned: September 2009
Sohrabi Rad was arrested by Ministry of Information agents on charges of working with Saham News in preparing a documentary on prisoner abuse at the Kahrizak Detention Center, according to the reformist Web site Asr-e Nou. (The detention center was closed in July 2009 after evidence emerged of pervasive abuse of detainees.)

Asr-e Nou reported that Sohrabi Rad had been subjected to physical and psychological pressure at Evin Prison. Authorities transferred Sohrabi Rad from Ward 209, where political prisoners are held, to solitary confinement in Ward 240, according to news reports. A prison doctor said the journalist was suffering greatly in prison, according to the Web site of Human Rights and Democracy Activists of Iran. He was married shortly before his arrest, according to the site.

Mohammad Davari, Saham News
Imprisoned: September 5, 2009
Saham News, a Web site affiliated with presidential candidate Mehdi ‎Karroubi, reported that its editor-in-chief, Davari, had been detained. Seventeen days after his arrest, the journalist was allowed to contact his family, ‎according to the Tahavolkhani news Web site. His mother said he was being held at Tehran’s ‎Evin Prison.

Davari was brought to trial on November 22 on charges of propagation against the regime, congregation and mutiny for disrupting national security, and creating chaos in public order.

In the weeks after the election, Davari had videotaped the testimony of inmates at Kahrizak Detention Center who alleged they had been raped and abused while in custody, according to the Free Iranian Journalists blog. (The detention center was closed in July 2009 after evidence emerged of pervasive abuse of detainees.)

Alireza Moghiseh, Iranian Journalists Association
Imprisoned: October 18, 2009
Moghiseh is a member of the Iranian Journalists Association and the prisoner-abuse fact-finding committee of reformist candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, according to Rooz Online and the news Web site Sedayefarda.

He is being held in Evin Prison’s Ward 209, where political prisoners are jailed, but little other information on his case has been disclosed, according to the same news reports. Moghiseh is an Iran-Iraq war veteran.

Javad Mahzadeh, freelance
Imprisoned: October 22, 2009
Mahzadeh‎, a journalist and novelist, was arrested on his way to work on the orders of the ‎‎Revolutionary Court’s prosecutor’s office, according to local news reports.

Mahzadeh, a political analyst and a literary critic who wrote for the Web sites Iranian Diplomacy and Baran, is ‎‎well-known in Iran for the novel, Take Away Your Laughter. Authorities confiscated a computer from his home, according to news reports. No formal charges have been disclosed.

Mazdak Ali Nazari, Nasim Haraz Monthly and Journalism for Peace
Imprisoned: November 2009
Nazari, who won the Iranian Journalists Association’s Best Journalist Award in 2007, was arrested at his home sometime in the second week of November, according to news accounts and human rights groups.

Nazari was editor of Nasim Haraz Monthly, a cultural magazine, and editor-in-chief of Journalism for Peace, a critical Web site focusing on human rights. He is also author of the blog Zemzemeh Haye Divaneh. Nazari told his family about his arrest in a brief telephone call, but he was unable to relay details, including his whereabouts, according to Rooz Online, a Farsi- and English-language reformist news Web site.

Nazari had also worked for Etemad e Melli, the newspaper owned by defeated presidential ‎‎‎candidate Mehdi Karroubi.

Sassan Aghaee, freelance
Imprisoned: November 22, 2009
Security forces raided the home of Aghaee, a seasoned journalist who contributed to a number of newspapers, including Farhikhtegan, Etemad, Tose’eh, Mardom Salari, and Etemad e Melli. He was also author of the blog Free Tribune.

Aghaee is being held at Evin Prison, according to news accounts. No formal charges have been disclosed. In a letter the journalist asked to be opened in case of his arrest, Aghaee said any confessions he might make in custody should be disregarded as coerced, according to the reformist Web site Jaras.

Saeed Jalalifar, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Saeed Kalanaki, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Imprisoned: December 2, 2009
Jalalifar and Kalanaki, who reported on child labor and political prisoner issues, were arrested after being summoned by the Ministry of Information, the reformist news Web site Kalame reported. No formal charges have been disclosed against the two, the U.S. government-funded Radio Farda reported.
Jalalifar and Kalanaki were the first of several committee journalists to be arrested for their work in exposing alleged human rights violations and government malfeasance. Jalalifar was unable to contact his family during the first 40 days of his confinement, according to the committee’s Web site.

Kouhyar Goudarzi, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Imprisoned: December 20, 2009
Goudarzi, a veteran journalist for the human rights committee, has been charged with moharebeh, or heresy, a capital crime, according to local news reports and the BBC Persian service. Held at Evin Prison, he has also been charged with propagation against the regime and participating in illegal congregations.

Visitors to the prison said Goudarzi’s head was bandaged, although it was not clear how he sustained his injuries, according to the reformist online publication Rooz Online. The human rights committee said judicial authorities have sought to link the organization to external political parties.

Shiva Nazar Ahari, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Saeed Haeri, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Imprisoned: December 20, 2009
Nazar Ahari and Haeri were detained while on a bus taking them from Tehran to Qom to attend the funeral of Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, the influential cleric who had criticized the government’s conduct.

Nazar Ahari had been jailed for four months in the immediate aftermath of the disputed June presidential election. She was free on bail when she was rearrested in December. The reformist Web site Kalame said Nazar Ahari is in solitary confinement at Evin Prison’s Ward 209, where political prisoners are held.

In a meeting with Nazar Ahari’s family members, a prosecutor claimed that the human rights committee was affiliated with an armed opposition group, Kalame reported. Haeri’s family was unable to visit the journalist until January 24, according to the Amir Kabir Bulletin, an online student news site critical of the Iranian government.

Nazar Ahari has been charged with illegal congregation, according to the committee’s Web site. No formal charges have been disclosed against Haeri.

Mohammad Nourizad, freelance
Imprisoned: December 20, 2009
The BBC Persian service reported that Nourizad, a blogger and documentary filmmaker, was arrested after he wrote an open letter to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urging him to apologize for the government’s post-election conduct, and an article criticizing the head of Iran’s judiciary.

The government-run Mehr News said Nourizad is charged with “insulting authorities” and “propagation against the regime.” On January 5, security officers raided Nourizad’s home, seizing his computer and documents, according to the pro-opposition news Web site Jonbesh-e Rah-e Sabz.

Held at Evin Prison, Nourizad has waged a hunger strike, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz reported that Nourizad’s wife was denied visitation rights.

Nourizad had once written for Kayhan, a newspaper closely associated with conservative elements in the government, but he distanced himself from the publication after the disputed June presidential election. Kayhan has repeatedly attacked Nourizad and his writing since that time, according to CPJ research.

Emadeddin Baghi, freelance
Imprisoned: December 23, 2009
Baghi, the prominent Iranian author, journalist, and human rights activist, was arrested after being summoned to the security division of the Revolutionary Court, according to the reformist Ayandeh News Web site. 

When Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri died in December, the BBC Persian service aired a two-year old interview that Baghi had conducted with the influential cleric. Baghi was arrested soon after the rebroadcast. The government has sought to clamp down on publicity about Montazeri, who had criticized the conduct of the June presidential election.

Baghi has been arrested numerous times in the past. In 2000, he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on charges of “questioning Islamic law,” “threatening national security,” and “spreading unsubstantiated news” in articles detailing the roles of intelligence agents in a series of politically motivated murders. He served three years in prison before being released. He was arrested again in 2007 and served several months for “acting against national security,” according to local and international news reports.

Alireza Beheshti Shirazi, Kalameh Sabz
Imprisoned: December 23, 2009
Shirazi, editor-in-chief of the now-defunct reformist daily Kalameh Sabz, was taken from his home and brought to an unknown location, according to international news reports.

Shirazi had been arrested and released in the aftermath of the disputed June presidential election. At the time, he had given interviews to foreign-language news media about the post-election turmoil.

Arvin Sedaghat Kish, Farhang va Ahang
Imprisoned: December 27, 2009
Kish, a writer for the culture and arts magazine Farhang va Ahang, was the first of three journalists for the monthly publication to be arrested, according to CPJ research. Kish, who is also a musician, wrote for other magazines and Web sites, including Harmony Talk, according to the BBC Persian service.

No formal charges have been disclosed.

Mostafa Izadi, Etemad e Melli
Imprisoned: December 28, 2009
Author and journalist Izadi was arrested at his home by security agents who also searched the property, according to the reformist news Web site Advar News. He had worked for Etemad e Melli, a now-closed daily newspaper owned by defeated presidential ‎‎‎candidate Mehdi Karroubi.

Between 1997 and 2000, Izadi was chief editor of the now-banned reformist newspaper Ava Weekly. Izadi is the author of a book about the life of recently deceased Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri.

Sam Mahmoudi Sarabi, Etemad
Imprisoned December 29, 2009
Sarabi, a journalist for the reformist daily Etemad, was arrested and placed in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, where political prisoners are held, according to local news reports and the BBC Persian service. The Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that prison authorities advised Sarabi’s family not to make inquiries about his case.

Kayvan Mehregan, Etemad
Imprisoned: December 29, 2009
Mehregan is the editor of the political section of the reformist daily Etemad. Authorities arrested him at his office, according to local news reports. No formal charges have been disclosed against him. Badressadat Mofidi, Iranian Journalists Association
Imprisoned: December 29, 2009
Mofidi writes articles and conducts interviews with national and international media outlets as secretary of the Iranian Journalists Association, according to local news reports. She had discussed the government’s press policies in a December 22 interview with the Persian service of the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. No formal charges have been disclosed against her.
Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, Iranian Committee for the Defense of Freedom of the Press
Imprisoned: December 29, 2009
Shamsolvaezin, journalist and spokesman for the Iranian Committee for the Defense of Freedom of the Press, was arrested at his Tehran home, according to the BBC and local news reports. Six plainclothes agents entered Shamsolvaezin’s home with a blank, or nameless, warrant, according to the reformist news Web site Rahesabz. Shamsolvaezin demanded that police produce a warrant that included his name, but senior officers were summoned and took him away, Rahesabz reported.

Shamsolvaezin is former editor of the reformist dailies Jame’eh, Tous, Neshati, and Asr-e Azadegan, which were successively shut down by Tehran’s Press Court between 1998 and 2000. He was sentenced in April 2000 to 30 months in prison for insulting Islamic principles in an article that criticized capital punishment; he was released after spending 17 months at Evin Prison.

He was a recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award in 2000 for courage and independence in reporting the news. Most recently, Shamsolvaezin has been an outspoken advocate for a free press in Iran and has appeared frequently on television as a media analyst.

Abdolreza Tajik, Etemad
Imprisoned: December 29, 2009
Tajik, a journalist with the reformist newspaper Etemad, was arrested as he arrived at the newspaper’s offices, the opposition Web site Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz reported. Tajik had been jailed for 46 days during the government’s post-election crackdown.

Tajik’s family has been prohibited from visiting him during his current detention, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Authorities have also prohibited his attorney from reviewing the case or meeting with the prosecutor, according to the agency. No formal charges have been disclosed.

Omid Montazeri, freelance
Imprisoned: December 30, 2009
Montazeri faces charges related to his participation in Ashura Day protests on December 28, 2009, along with his published articles and interviews with foreign news outlets, his aunt told the reformist news site Farhang-e Goft-o Goo. The site said Montazeri has denied all charges. Montazeri is being tried along with 15 other people, some of whom face charges as serious as the capital crime of moharebeh, or heresy.

Defense attorneys have been obstructed in their efforts to confer with Montazeri and review his file, the journalist’s sister told the U.S. government-funded Radio Farda. Government media have published Montazeri’s “confessions,” which his sister said appear to be coerced. She said she is deeply concerned about the physical and psychological conditions in which her brother is being held.

Montazeri was arrested a day after his mother, peace activist Mahin Fahimi was taken into custody, according to Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz Web site. Montazeri’s father was executed for his political activities in 1988.

Mahsa Hekmat, Etemad e Melli
Imprisoned: January 1, 2010
Etemad e Melli, the now-banned newspaper owned by defeated presidential ‎‎‎candidate Mehdi Karroubi, was arrested at her father’s farm in Saveh, outside Tehran, according to the news Web site Norooz. Hekmat’s whereabouts and legal status have not been disclosed.

In April 2009, Hekmat interviewed the prominent opposition journalist Seyed Ebrahim Nabavi, who is now in exile.

Hekmat’s father, Ali, a former reformist newspaper editor, was also arrested at the family farm. CPJ is investigating the basis for that arrest. Several other people were also detained that day at the Hekmat farm but have since been released.

Parisa Kakaee, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Mehrdad Rahimi, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Imprisoned: January 1, 2010
Kakaee and Rahimi, journalists for the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, were arrested after being summoned by the Ministry of Information, the reformist news Web site Kalame reported. Several other committee journalists have been arrested for their work in exposing alleged human rights violations and government malfeasance.

Rahimi told his family that interrogators said he would be charged with the capital crime, moharebeh, or heresy, Kalame said. The charge was formally announced in late January, according to the BBC Persian service.

Rouzbeh Karimi, Kargozaran
Imprisoned: January 2, 2010
A reporter with reformist daily Kargozaran and regular contributor to the reformist news Web sites Advar News, Rokhdad, and Feminist School, Karimi was arrested along with his wife, Forough Mirzaee, a human rights lawyer, at their Tehran home, according to local news reports. 

His brother, Siamak, told Advar News that officials have disclosed no formal charges.

Yadollah Eslami, Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz
Imprisoned: January 4, 2010
Eslami, former editor of the long-banned newspaper Fath, wrote most recently for Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz, a Web site that had backed reformist presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

Eslami’s family publicized the arrest on January 27 after losing hope for a timely release. Eslami, who is also a practicing ophthalmologist, was arrested at a Tehran medical facility, according to Parleman News, the official Web site of the minority factions in the Iranian parliament.

Behrang Tonkaboni, Farhang va Ahang
Kayvan Farzin, Farhang va Ahang
Imprisoned: January 6, 2010
Tonkaboni, editor-in-chief of the culture and arts monthly Farhang va Ahang, and Farzin, a reporter for the publication, were arrested at their office, according to local news reports.

Police searched Tonkaboni’s home, confiscating his computer and documents belonging to his mother, the prominent author Lili Farhadpour, news reports said. Farhadpour was arrested two weeks later. Authorities also seized Farzin’s computer hard drive, according to the news reports.

Mostafa Dehghan, freelance
Imprisoned: January 8, 2010
Dehghan wrote about social issues for several newspapers and the women’s rights Web site Change for Equality, according to Jonbesh-e Rah-e Sabz. He is being held in Evin Prison’s Ward 209, where political prisoners are held.

The Web site Jmin News said Dehghan called his family in mid-January, but the journalist did not know why he had been detained.

Mehraneh Atashi, freelance
Imprisoned: January 11, 2010
Atashi, a freelance photographer, and her husband were arrested at their home, according to the U.S. government-funded Radio Farda and other news sources. Agents seized some of the couple’s personal items, including their computer, reports said.

Atashi, 30, worked with several domestic publications, such as Soroush Javan and Hamshahri Javan according to Kalame Web site, and her work has been exhibited in the U.S. and Europe. Background on her husband was not immediately available.

Lili Farhadpour, freelance
Imprisoned: January 21, 2010
Farhadpour, a veteran journalist who has written about cultural and social issues for reformist newspapers, was arrested by security forces at her home. She is also the mother of Behrang Tonekaboni, editor-in-chief of Fahang va Ahang, who was arrested on January 6.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This alert has been corrected to reflect that Kayvan Mehregan and Badressadat Mofidi are not related.

17th August 2010 

Shiva Nazar Ahari’s Lawyer Concerned About Her Verdict on the Charge of Moharebeh

Shiva Nazar Ahari’s lawyer, Mohammad Sharif, has expressed concern about his client’s upcoming trial considering the heavy charge of moharebeh (enmity with God) in her case. “Shiva Nazar Ahari’s case is being reviewed in the same branch that reviewed Badrolssadat Mofidi’s case. I believe the ruling in Ms. Mofidi’s case to be illegal and therefore am seriously concerned about the court’s potential ruling, considering the fact that my client’s initial charge is moharebeh,” he told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

According to Sharif, one of his concerns is that even though the presiding judge for Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Courts is a known judge, another judge appeared at Ms. Mofidi’s trial. “My client has been informed of three charges. One of her charges is moharebeh, enmity with God, the subject of Article 186. The other charge is assembly and collusion to commit a crime, the subject of Article 610. Her final charge is propagating against the regime, based on Article 500,” said Sharif. “I have read Shiva Nazar Ahari’s case file.  I have written my defense bill and have submitted it,” he added.

Nazar Ahari’s mother, Shahrzad Kariman, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that she is unaware of the charges. Regarding whether her daughter was informed of her charges, Kariman said, “Maybe they have served Dr. Sharif, but I don’t know anything about it. The moharebeh charge was conveyed in June 2009, but we didn’t think it was in this case. When Dr. Sharif read the case for the 23 May court session, we realized that when she had first been arrested in 2009, one of the four charges the judge had written in her case was moharebeh. When she was re-arrested on 20 December 2009, moharebeh was not one of her charges.”

“Shiva is in a state of limbo. Her court date was announced so late. They were going to move the date forward, but nothing has happened yet. The situation in the Women’s Ward is dire. Most days there is no water. The situation with hygiene is terrible. The situation with food is extremely bad,” said Kariman. Quoting the lawyer, she described Nazar Ahari’s imprisonment as illegal. “She has been in this limbo for nine months. According to Dr. Sharif, Shiva has been illegally detained for the past three months, because a temporary detention can only be extended up to six months. Continuing a suspect’s detention beyond six months requires a court ruling which Shiva’s case doesn’t have,” she said.

Shiva Nazar Ahari is a human rights activist and editor of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters website. She was arrested on 14 June 2009 in her office. After spending 102 days in detention, she was released on 23 September 2009 on $200,000 bail. She spent 33 days of her detention in solitary confinement. She was arrested for the second time on 20 December 2009, and has remained in prison without furlough and without any explanation from authorities about the reasons for her imprisonment. The second session of her trial is said to be scheduled for 4 September 2010.
Badrolssadat Mofidi is Secretary General of the Iranian Journalists Association who was recently sentenced to six years’ imprisonment and five years’ deprivation from press activities by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Courts.

Save the life of Majid Tavakoli!! Student activist transferred to Rajai Shahr prison!

SUBJECT: URGENT! 

Save the life of Majid Tavakoli!! Student activist transferred to Rajai Shahr prison!

BODY:

Dear Parties Addressed:

We are very concerned citizens and human rights activists from around the world who are gravely concerned for the well being of student activist and leader in Iran, Majid Tavakoli!!

We ask that you URGENTLY condemn and pressure the Iranian government to IMMEDIATELY release Majid Tavakoli, let him contact his family, drop the case against him, and allow him to continue his education after his release. Based on history of imprisonments in this prison, political prisoners are known to have been the subject of horrific abuse, mutilations, torture, rapes, and humiliating assaults, and on top of that the government beats, rapes, and tortures the prisoners in order to get false confessions to either execute or give long term prison sentences with possible lashings.

PLEASE HELP SAVE MAJID TAVAKOLI!

Last month he was bleeding from his stomach, due to torture wounds, and his mother begged for the judicial authorities to let her pay for him to receive medication. Yet they refused and have let Majid's health continue to deteriorate over time!!! He was on a hunger strike for over 2 weeks starting July 26th with 17 other activists in prison to protest their inhumane treatment in prison and as a result Majid went unconscious, then had to be transferred to the prison clinic. Now he has been moved from Evin prison to Rajai Shahr prison. This young student leader has been through so much. We need to ensure his safety and need your help to raise your voice for Majid.

Thank you for your attention and prompt action in advance!

Sincerely,

XXXXX

Majid Tavakoli Transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison

Student political prisoner Majid Tavakoli was transferred from Evin to Rajai Shahr prison (I.e. Gohardasht prison). Majid’s brother Ali Tavakoli told HRANA that he has not been able to communicate with his brother. A prisoner in Rajai Shahr prison has reportedly witnessed the transfer. In recent years, exile to Rajai Shahr prison is an action taken on political prisoners to punish them.

Tavakoli is one of the 17 political prisoners who launched a hunger strike around July 26th (almost all the prisoners ended their hunger strike after two weeks. Imprisoned journalist Keyvan Samimi remains on hunger strike). Tavakoli was last arrested on December 7, 2009 after delivering a speech for Student Day at Amirkabir University.

On January 19, 2010, branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced Majid Tavakoli to eight years and six months in prison. Additionally, Tavakoli was banned for five years from both leaving the country and engaging in any political activities.

English translation provided by: P2E: http://persian2english.com/?p=13596
Original Source HRANA http://hra-news.biz/1389-01-27-05-27-21/3403-1.html

Another website report: Kaleme: http://www.kaleme.com/1389/05/25/klm-29142

Save Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki (Babak Khorramdin)

Save Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki (Babak Khorramdin)

Published by Tara on May 31, 2010

Category: Human Rights

Region: GLOBAL

Target: United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Head Judiciary of Tehran

Web site: http://freebabak.wordpress.com/

 

Background (Preamble):

Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki (Babak Khorramdin)Iranian blogger, human rights activists and one the members of Iran Proxy, was arrested on December 13, 2009, but under pressure exerted by intelligence agents, his family and his friends had been forced to keep the news of his arrest secret.

Throughout his detention, Ronaghi-Maleki has been subjected to excruciating physical and psychological torture techniques by his interrogators who want him to participate in televised confessions.He has gone on hunger strike to protest the harsh conditions of his detention and unlawful actions of the intelligence and judicial authorities. On May 24 he was placed in solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin Priosn, 3 days after he started a hunger strike.

 

Petition:

Our dear friend and vital human rights activist Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki (also known under the alias Babak Khorramdin) has been imprisoned by the Iranian Regime since December 13, 2009. During this time there has been little mention regarding his situation and painfully little effort given towards campaigning for his freedom.

Hossein was a member of IranProxy creating anti-filter software for opposing censorship. Before his detainment, he dedicated his time and energy to gathering information about prisoners, creating websites and petitions for them to be set free, as well as writing his own blog campaigning for freedom of expression.

Throughout his detention, Ronaghi-Maleki has been subjected to excruciating physical and psychological torture techniques by his interrogators who want him to participate in televised confessions. He has gone on hunger strike to protest the harsh conditions of his detention and unlawful actions of the intelligence and judicial authorities. 3 days after he started a hunger strike, on May 24, 2010, he was placed in solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin Prison. On May 31 he was allowed a prison visit with his Mother after she staged a hunger strike outside of Evin. This was the 3rd time in 6 months that the blogger was able to visit with his family. He is said to be in weak physical condition and has difficulty speaking.

Please join the fight to save Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki, the way he fought for us, and continues to fight. Sign the petition to condemn the severe injustices and oppression of the Iranian Islamic Regime. Write for him, petition for him.

New Documents from Tabriz and Tehran Courts on Sakineh Ashtaiani’s Case

Thursday, 12 August 2010

 

New Documents from Tabriz and Tehran Courts on Sakineh Ashtaiani’s Case

PR No. 37, August 7, 2010

Also following: Open Letter by Houtan Kia, one of Sakineh’s Lawyers, to Human Rights Authorities

It was three ago that I was acquainted with Sakineh Ashtian’s case, and the likelihood of her stoning sentence being carried out, through her children’s telephone call to me at International Committee Against Stoning (ICAS). Sakineh had then been sentenced to stoning by the Province Court of Tabriz (capital city of Eastern Azerbaijan) for ‘adultery’. The sentence had subsequently been confirmed by the Supreme Court in Tehran. At this point her children had decided to resort to ICAS, determined to save their mother’s life.

The ICAS took prompt action, informing the public about the situation through a series of Statements, as well as organizing several practical measures.

On July 6, 2010, when all legal ways and efforts had been exhausted, and Sakineh’s letters of appeal for clemency to the authorities of the Islamist regime, including Khamenei himself, had fallen on deaf ears, her children wrote a letter addressed to the world to save their mother. It was immediately released by ICAS, first in the original Farsi and the day after in English, based on which it was later translated by the people around the world into 17 languages.

As a result of the international furor against her conviction during the past month, Sakineh’s fate has turned into the subject of deep concern and proactive protest of millions of people around the world. Also, their eyes have turned towards the prisons of the Islamist regime, its barbaric judicial philosophy, process of interpretation and application of its laws, and its procedural law. Further, Sakineh’s fate and the international campaign to save her life have provided the people of the world with a vintage point from which to see the true nature of a whole system of sexual apartheid built up by a regime of terrorist, misogynistic murderers.

Now, under powerful international pressure, the regime has resorted to trumping up charges against Sakineh, accusing her of murdering her husband. But the truth is that, according to the documents of the regime’s own courts, it is evident that there is no charge of murder in this case! ‘Brach 12 of Tabriz Province Court… has no records of having ever charged Sakineh with murder’, writes Sakineh’s lawyer, Houtan Kian (see below his letter). The regime is lying simply to make Sakineh appear a murderer in the eyes of the world in an effort to lessen the challenging global pressure it is confronted with.

We publicized the documents we had in our possession at a press conference in London on June 30th. We are now in receipt of other documents that show more clearly than ever that the regime is trumping up the murder charge and that its intention to execute her is utterly political. We shall soon make these documents public too. Meanwhile, in order to prepare to frustrate the regime’s savage habit of churning out charges against people, especially women, we requested Houtan Kian to expound on the matter. In reply to our request he wrote an open letter – mailed to, and immediately released by us – to human rights authorities and organizations worlswide. In his letter Houtan Kian has elaborated on the general layout of the case. The complete translation of the letter is attached to the end of this PR.

The substance of Houtan Kian’s open letter is as follows:

Cases involving sex out of wedlock (SOW) and those involving murder are tried at, and/or confirmed by, two different divisions (branches) of criminal-law courts in Iran. Murder is tried by Division 12 of the Province Court and SOW at Division 6. If a case involves both, it is also tried at Div. 12. Sakineh Ashtiaani’s case was tried at Div. 6, and the case involving her husband’s murder at Div. 12. If she had been charged on both accounts, she would have been tried at Div. 12. But, according to Houtan Kian, Div. 12 of Tabriz Province Court has no records of having charged Sakineh Ashtiaani with murder. At Div. 12, where the case of the murder of Ebrahim Ghaderzaadeh (Ashtiaani’s husband) was tried, a certain Isa T. confessed to the murder and was, accordingly, sentenced to death. But he was not executed, for Sakineh’s children, now in a position to determine whether the blood of the person who shed their father’s blood should be shed – according to the Islamic tribal law of ‘a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye’ – forgave the killer , and he was freed a short while after. Sakine, on the other hand, was convicted of adultery. But not for ‘adultery of a married woman’ (zenna-e-mohseneh) as the Islamic Sharia Law distinguishes the two, and punishes only the latter by stoning. For her SOW conviction Sakineh received a sentence of 99 lashes and 10 years’ imprisonment - for ‘disturbing the social peace’ (!) - by Div.6 at Tabriz Province Court. Thus both cases were officially declared ‘closed’. Sakineh’s sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court in Tehran, and subsequently carried out.

However, for some peculiar, unknown reason, or as Sajjad, Sakineh’s son’s, writes in his letter, ‘but I do not know what happened, and’ the same Div. 6 of the Province Court in Tabriz reopened the case ‘in relation to the murder case’ (Mohammad Mostafai, the other Sakineh’s lawyer, in his public statement of 26 June, 2010). Yet, as Mostafai continues, ‘The judges of Div. 6 this time brought the charge of zenna-e-mohseneh against my client, convicted and sentenced her to stoning without producing clear reasons proving her guilt according to Article 83 and the following articles of the Islamic Code of Punishment…and only on the basis of the knowledge of the judge (my underline). This occurred despite the following circumstance…: 1- trying Sakineh for the second time, while the previous conviction has not been rescinded, [i.e. trying her twice for the same charge] was, and is, devoid of any legal value; 2- Two judges of Div. 6 of the Province Criminal Court …were convinced of Sakineh’s innocence and clearly stated in their verdict that “there are neither any doctrinal nor any legal reasons positively proving zenna-e-mohseneh in the case of the accused. Nor are the existing evidence and signs in this case among the common ways of achieving knowledge.”’ The stoning sentence was also confirmed by the Supreme Court in Tehran. That was the point at which Sakineh’s children, Sajjad and Faride, contacted ICAS three years ago by the telephone. Thus for four years Sakineh has been living with the horror of being stoned to death for a totally baseless conviction issued illegally even according to the tribal Islamic judicial system and its savage, misogynistic code of punishment of the regime itself.

Now, under the recent international pressure to save and free Sakineh, the regime has been pushed back one step from the position of wanting to stone her to the position of intending to execute her by hanging for the charge of murdering her husband. This is what Nowbakht, the Deputy Prosecutor of Tabriz, demanded in his indictment of mid-July 2010. However, ‘Mostafai has issued a statement saying that Sakineh has been acquitted of murdering her husband, and the execution by hanging has not been mentioned in her final official sentence’ (The Guardian, Thursday, 22 July 2010). This indictment is presently under consideration by the Supreme Court in Tehran. The regime officially announced on July 20th that a final verdict in Sakineh Ashtiaani’s case would be handed down ‘in 21 days’, that is, on August 12th.

As can be seen easily in the mirror of Sakineh’s case, the crux of the matter is that the so-called courts of the Islamist regime in Iran are light years removed from the most basic principles and standards of humanity, impartiality and independence. The truth is that the regime’s judiciary system is, above all, a horrifying apparatus in the hands of the state for the purpose of producing rubber-stamped verdicts fitting the day-to-day political, terroristic needs of the latter. That is why instigation, creating all sorts of political atmospheres, and the use of torture for extraction of confessions are part and parcel of this so-called judicial system. But, again, what else can one expect from a regime of sheer terror using all the fitting means of instilling terror – everything from stoning, amputation of limbs and torture to flogging men and women for their hair and dressing style to levying heavy fines in the case of women for having nail polish or putting their sunglasses up on their foreheads or tucking their pants into their boots? Not only this nightmarish, tribal, misogynistic judicial system but also this whole regime of terror must be wiped from the face of the Iranian society and, indeed, as an international menace, from the face of the world.

We must save Sakineh from the ruling murderous regime in Iran. Only the united civilized humanity can do it. And there is only way to do it: intensifying the current international pressure on the regime through stronger protests.

Mina Ahadi
Spokesperson
International Campaign Against Stoning (http://stopstonningnow.com) and
International campaign Against Execution (http://stopstonningnow.com)
Tel: 0049 (0) 1775692413

Attachment (Not translated by ICAS):
Houtan Kian’s Open Letter:
Respectable authorities defending human rights

Ahuraian greetings.

At the outset, I must explain that all the cases I (Houtan Kian-Senior Attorney at Law) handle, since the day I started my profession as an attorney, given my area of specialty on crimes such as murder, adultery, homosexuality, political, illicit drugs, …meaning crimes in which according to the laws of the Islamic Republic are punishable by execution in various forms. I have represented my client, Ms. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, since 1387 (Note last year)

The cases involve murder and adultery which are two different things based on which court handles each, assuming my client was also involved in the murder case.

If murder was proven, my client would have been executed and there would have been no need to stone her to death (Note the punishment for adultery under Islamic Penal Code). Based on Islamic Penal Code, the punishments for murder and adultery should have been combined in one case and sentence and handled by Brach 12 of the Tabriz Province Court. Whereas this was not the case. The branch has no records of sentencing my client to murder

Regarding the accusation of murder in the same branch regarding Mr. x who has been convicted of murder and proven that he committed murder. He admitted to murder in the branch. Later when the deceased Ebrahim Ghaderzadeh’s (Ashtiani’s husband) family was interviewed as to whether they sought retribution for the crime committed by Mr. x (murder), the family agreed unanimously to forego his blood and the convict is now freed as a result. The incident regarding Mr. Ghaderzadeh’s death happened in a bath as a result of electrocution. The convict admitted in the branch that he administered the electrifying of Mr. Ghaderzadeh himself with his own hands three times and each time the deceased received electrical shock.

The conviction of Ms. Sakineh Ashtiani in Branch 6 of the East Azerbaijan Province Court for adultery was wrong in the process by which it was handled. It completely violated the spirit of the laws of the Islamic Republic. It was only in the Supreme Court that the case was endorsed on the basis of Islamic Sharia law. That is wrong in every way. In my defense of the case before the Supreme Court of the country, I say the same thing. Now although the application of stoning has been temporarily halted, the case remains open for handling and application of stoning in Tabriz province.

The current process of the case, based on my request for due process, has now been sent by the respected judge of the Supreme Court to Ms. Farshchi for due process application and for review. Based on her order, it is registered in the computer by the number of ----, dated ---and has circulated in the secretariat of the Supreme Court and sent to branch 9 of the Supreme Court on date of ----under the registration number ----.There it is about to be examined. Meanwhile, based on evidence of the case that is now on file with registration number ----, an implementation remains in order in the Tabriz Court regrettably through Mr. Hossein Nobakht, the assistant to the prosecutor of Tabriz on implementation of case affairs. And as such cases are handled, the request to change Ms. Ashtiani’s stoning to execution has been made by the head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Chief Prosecutor of the country.

The Last Letter of Mohammad Nourizad to the Supreme Leader

The Last Letter of Mohammad Nourizad to the Supreme Leader

August 17, 2010

Filmmakers Mohammad Nourizad and Jafar Panahi after their release from prison in spring 2010

Mohammad Nourizad, Iranian journalist and filmmaker, has written his sixth letter addressed to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei titled, “The Last Letter of Mohammad Nourizad to the Leader.” Nourizad is currently out of prison released on bail. In April 2010, he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for writing three open letters to Khamenei and a letter of criticism that addressed the head of the Judiciary.


The letters are available in Persian on the BBC website.

Persian2English has translated parts of Nourizad’s sixth letter:

The Last Letter of Mohammad Nourizad to the Supreme Leader

By Mohammad Nourizad | Translation Siavosh Jalili for Persian2English

Death shall inevitably arrive and swallow you and I. We, the lost and the unknown, will soon be obliterated from memory, but you have played a role in making part of the history of this land and it will be talked about for a long time. Despite all that we do not have and all that you have, a common destiny joins us, and that [destiny] is dying and rotting and will be held accountable on Judgment Day.

They will have us and you stand on Judgement Day so that those who were happy and those who were discontent may voice their grievances. Not many people will know us, but you will have many content friends and discontent complainants.

Your friends and followers will talk about your virtues: Oh God, we witnessed that Seyyed Ali Khamenei was a courageous, brave, and influential orator. He would always call us to piety. He gathered no worldly possessions and single-handedly clashed with the U.S.A. and Israel. He led our country through labyrinths of sedition, and on every occasion, warned us against the enemies who are in ambush . During his long leadership, although our country was struggling in deep-rooted poverty and corruption, we accomplished stem-cell research, Shahab missiles, uranium enrichment, the launch of Omid Satellite, and even gained victory of Hezbollah over Israel in the 33-day war.

Dear leader,
….aside from your friends and followers who are mostly those who are profiting from your leadership, there will be those who will voice their grievances. Out of friendship, and since I wish you a good future, I will repeat some of these grievances…perhaps your friends who have closed their eyes (to all the vices that exist) and who serve in the judicial and security system will be enraged at the questions that I have posed here and will do to me what they have done to hundreds of innocent people
.
On Judgment Day, your complainants will carry grievances from you to God and say:

1) Oh God, Seyyed Ali Khamenei, aside from the virtues that he should have had and did have and the good deeds he had to perform and did perform, he beat on the drums of schism from the beginning of his leadership. He raised the flag of  ”those who belong to the inner circle of the regime” and “those who do not belong to the inner circle”, and thus society was led down the path of division and fission…Oh god, why did those who selected and vetted on his behalf deny our civil and social dignity and respect?

2) Oh God…during the years of his leadership, some groups of people faced imprisonment and torture for the smallest protest and the slightest criticism of senior officials who imposed on them. These groups of people were subjected to great psychological and social harms.

3) During his rule, the law and observing the rule of law by officials was looked down upon and belittled…an unknown miserable person would be sent to prison for owing $1000, while the leader’s favourite president, the vice president, some of the ministers, and his government officials were involved in multi-million dollar embezzlements and extortions. They would compete in a marathon of demagogy and mock the people and the law. This very law has become the carpet on which the coward deputies of parliament walk. It is slaughtered by the scared and corrupt judges. It was skinned and devoured by a group of Ministry of Intelligence agents. And the the law was finally pillaged and looted out of its content by the Revolutionary Guards who pretended to be acting within its frame, but instead painted it and portrayed it as they wished.

4) …during his reign, addiction, unemployment, and consumerism became the main parts of society. The country’s reputation on the world stage was damaged and deteriorated…

5) During the time of Seyyed Ali Khamenei, hypocrisy, flattery, deception, and the lack of accountability on people and officials became the common trend and (anti) culture. The officials constantly lied and took the wrong path, and the people, by looking at them, learned and followed suit. In a place where an unbalanced person such as the president tells lies, takes away the people’s money, and burns opportunities, why would the people not do the same?

6) The experts and the elite had no choice but to take refuge in foreign lands because those who held no merit and did not deserve were at the helm. They took refuge because the rule of law was not observed…puerile management based on oil money indicated that shallow words were not the drive for the non-petroleum based economy…the country was run by those who had no expertise and knowledge. Consequently, the wealth and resources of the nation were wasted.

7) In the time of Seyyed Ali Khamenei, especially in the last years of his life, people, who according to the law are entitled to criticize, protest, and launch strikes, were never given the chance to express their demands.  The slightest attempt to dissent and protest was deemed as an act of hostility, espionage, and an attempt to overthrow the regime…all the protesters were subjected to torture, prison, and solitary confinement. And in ludicrous verdicts, they would receive predetermined sentences of imprisonment and execution.

8) Oh Lord, did you see how Khamenei, next to his virtues, introduced and institutionalized a concept called “seeking the approval and piety of candidates by the council of religious jurisprudence”…lest an independent and free thinker deputy be elected to the parliament and protest against the leader’s mistakes….this resulted in the leader to be wrapped in a halo of sanctity and made Seyyed Ali inaccessible to the people…the absolute power he built for himself does not allow anyone or any movement to engage in benevolent pathology of leadership, and as a result, corruption infiltrated the pillars of society….the country, year after year, descended into the trash of contemptible tribal ties…

9) …state television and radio resorted to the most violent lies…and other media turned into a pump which would suck sewage instead of clean water from the well…

10) Oh God, Seyyed Ali entered the arena in defense of a dim-wit like Ahmadinejad and damaged the image of an impartial leader…Khamenei shut down the roads to any change so that he could continue to control the power.

Our dear leader,
I wish you would leave a good name after your death and right the wrongs…so that tomorrow people could say: “Khamenei was a wise and enlightened leader…Although toward the end of his rule, he lost control and some harms were done…he, like Nelson Mandella, gave up key posts and paved the way for the rule of law.
If you ask where you can start, I shall answer: with one noble order from you, all the innocent prisoners can return to the arms of their loved ones…