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Nasrin Sotoudeh’s 13-year Old Daughter Banned From Foreign Travel

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Nasrin Sotoudeh’s 13-year Old Daughter Banned From Foreign Travel

A security court in Tehran has ruled to ban foreign travel for human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, and her daughter, Mehraveh Khandan, 13. Reza and Mehraveh Khandan each received a ruling and summons notice from Branch Two of Tehran’s Shahid Moghaddas Court, located next to Evin Prison, which is dedicated to handling security cases.

The court has informed the two family members of Nasrin Sotoudeh that they have been banned from foreign travel, and has summoned them to appear in court if they have an objection to the ruling. It is not clear why Mehraveh Khandan, as a minor child of a political prisoner, has faced such a ban. This is the first time such orders have been issued to a political prisoner’s child.

The summons form is dated 20 June, 2012, and the deadline for objecting to the ruling is stated to be 20 days after that date.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran regrets witnessing a new round of pressure on the families of prisoners of conscience in Iran, and recognizes the travel ban for Reza Khandan and his young daughter as another measure of psychological pressure on political prisoners. The ruling does not indicate any reasons for the travel ban ruling.

Reza Khandan told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that receiving such a ruling was totally unexpected. “We didn’t expect it, and we hadn’t planned any trips. I believe this was done with the objective of destroying the psychological and mental balance of our family and for inflicting shock to all the family members,” Khandan told the Campaign. “Mehraveh is under 13, and if she has committed a crime, the political and security court is not qualified to review it, because they can’t just ban someone’s travel like this. First, they should state her charges, and then they should pursue her legally and through the Judiciary, and after that, a travel ban ruling may be issued for her while the charges leveled against her are reviewed, charges which are as yet unknown to us,” he added.

“My 12.5-year-old daughter has been Issued a travel ban ruling and a summons [to Shahid Moghaddas Security Court], but [according to the law,] charges for children and minors must be reviewed in juvenile courts,” said Reza Khandan.

Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent human rights lawyer, was arrested on 21 September 2010, and on 8 January 2011, she was sentenced to 11 years in prison, 20 years’ ban on her legal practice, and 20 years ban on foreign travel on charges of “acting against national security,” “collusion and propagation against the Islamic Republic,” and “membership in the Defenders of Human Rights Center.” Her sentence was subsequently upheld in its entirety by an appeals court.

Source: Iranhumanrights

Nationalist poet sentenced to three years in prison

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Nationalist poet sentenced to three years in prison

Iran’s nationalist poet, Mostafa Badkoobei aka Omid, was sentenced to three years in prison and banned from reciting poetry in public for five years.

Source: Iran Daily Brief

Political prisoner hospitalized after medical condition deteriorates

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Political prisoner hospitalized after medical condition deteriorates

Narges Mohammadi, a political prisoner and VP of Defenders of Human Rights Center, was admitted to a hospital because her medical condition worsened. Her doctors have warned on several occasions that the conditions of her imprisonment would be detrimental to her health. At her last meeting with her family, Mohammadi’s face appeared battered. She was sentenced to six years in prison because of her human rights activity.

Source: Iran Daily Brief

Officials Should Stop Denying the Existence of Political Prisoners

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Officials Should Stop Denying the Existence of Political Prisoners

Families Outraged at Javad Larijani’s Fallacious Remarks

Iranian officials should cease spreading lies and disinformation about the existence of political prisoners as they are simultaneously imprisoning hundreds for exercising their legal rights, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. The Judiciary should also immediately release all political prisoners and stop imprisoning individuals for expressing their political beliefs, the Campaign added.

On July 8, 2012, head of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights Javad Larijani publicly denied the existence of political prisoners in Iran. “A political prisoner is someone who has been politically active within the framework of the laws, but he has been unjustly imprisoned because the rulers and state authorities did not like what he was doing. According to this definition, there are no political prisoners inside the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said in an interview with ISNA (Iranian Student News Agency).

Despite Larijani’s remark, Iran currently imprisons hundreds of people on politically motivated charges.

“What kind of prisoner would an individual whose crime is ‘acting against national security’ or ‘propaganda against the regime’ be?” Taghi Rahmani, husband of imprisoned human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, asked the Campaign rhetorically in response to Larijani’s comment.

“Larijani has an infamous record of disinformation and outright lies,” said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the Campaign. “His latest uttering adds insult to injury—it is an outrage for the hundreds of suffering political prisoners and their families,” he added.

Larijani made the denial in response to a call by Member of Parliament Ali Motahari for the Tehran Prosecutor to “end the mistreatment of political prisoners and their families.”

Larijani also denied mistreatment of any prisoners, stating, “On principle, mistreatment of prisoners, whether they are political or non-political, is condemned. Mistreatment of prisoners is against Sharia and the law.… A tone that would suggest that first of all there are political prisoners in Iran, and secondly that prison mistreatment is a usual and routine procedure, is an untrue statement and an injustice to the Iranian nation….”

In a March 2012 report based on interviews with over 140 victims and witnesses of human rights abuses in Iran, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran Ahmed Shaheed cited evidence of at least 160 Iranians imprisoned on charges including “propaganda against the regime,” “illegal assembly,” “communication with one of the opposition,” “having relations with opposing groups of the Islamic Republic,” and other political indictments. These prisoners include students and student activists, Kurdish activists, women’s rights activists, and people of the Baha’i faith.

Additionally, Iran currently imprisons the highest number of journalists in the world, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ): “When CPJ conducted its annual prison census on December 1, 2011, Iran was holding 42 journalists in custody, the most in the world.”

Larijani has a long history of denying well-documented human rights abuses in Iran, both in the media and in international forums like the UN. For example, in an interview with CNN on February 16, 2010, he stated, “Nobody is jailed because of the [post-election] protest.” Larijani was also Iran’s deputy foreign affairs minister in 1988 when the government of Iran executed thousands of political prisoners. Responding to questions about the massacre shortly thereafter, Larijani stated, “I don’t think [the number of executions] should be that high…. First of all, we do not have that many political prisoners. They broke the country’s rules and they are in prison. The claim that we executed hundreds or even thousands of political prisoners is a lie.”

“It is high time for Larijani and his brother Sadeq Larijani, who heads the Judiciary, to be held accountable as two of the figures leading and justifying the current repression,” Ghaemi said.

In the four months since the Special Rapporteur published his report, the Campaign has spoken to dozens of Iranian political prisoners and their families, who have described in detail mistreatment, lack of basic rights, and due process violations. In separate interviews with the Campaign since Larijani’s public statement, family members of seven political prisoners responded to his assertion that “there are no political prisoners inside the Islamic Republic of Iran” as follows:

“If we don’t have any political prisoners, why would we have a High Council for Human Rights, which [Larijani] heads? Or why would the Members of Parliament approve a bill entitled ‘Political Crimes’?”

—Taghi Rahmani, husband of imprisoned human rights activist Narges Mohammadi. Mohammadi is serving a six-year sentence on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security,” “membership in the Defenders of Human Rights Center,” and “propaganda against the regime.” She has severe health problems and has been transferred to a hospital, where she has not been allowed any visitors.

“But if they are not political prisoners, what crimes have they committed—murder, theft?! … They know themselves that they are lying. … My question is, who are all the prisoners inside Evin Prison’s Ward 350?”

—Atieh Taheri, wife of imprisoned journalist Saeed Matinpour. Matinpour is serving an eight-year sentence on charges of “relations with foreigners” and “propaganda against the regime.” He was recently held in solitary confinement for one week after attending a memorial service for another political prisoner’s death at Evin Prison

“If he takes the trouble to read the case files and visit Evin Prison and other facilities, he will find out how many political prisoners there are.”

—Parinaz Baghban Hassani, wife of imprisoned human rights activist Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand. Kaboudvand is serving an 11-year sentence on charges of “publishing falsehoods with the intent to create public anxiety.” He has been on hunger strike since May 25 to protest the authorities’ refusal to allow him to visit his sick child in the hospital.

“Those who blindly follow the dictator’s orders can claim that we do not have political prisoners, but if they refuse to repeat the dictated words in the slightest, they will go to prison like the other political prisoners.”

—Mehdi Saharkhiz, son of imprisoned journalist and Mohammad Khatami’s former press director Issa Saharkhiz. Issa Saharkhiz is serving a five-year sentence on charges of “insulting the Supreme Leader,” “propaganda against the regime,” and “managing Akhbar-e-Eghtesadi Newspaper.” He suffers from heart disease and is kept under surveillance by security forces in the hospital.

“[Larijani’s] statement does not determine that political prisoners do not exist in society. Public opinion clarifies this issue and public opinion always calls prisoners like my wife and those like her political prisoners, and that’s that. Not just Mr. Larijani, but also no other officials who get money from the government can say whether or not there are political prisoners.”
—Reza Khandan, husband of imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. Sotoudeh is serving a six-year sentence on charges of “acting against national security,” “assembly and collusion against the regime,” and “membership in the Defenders of Human Rights Center.” In addition to her prison sentence, Sotoudeh has been banned from practicing law for 20 years.

“I believe Larijani’s goal was to create distraction so that he could disregard the political prisoners’ rights. … How can he say that we do not have political prisoners? When political crime is not defined in our country, this is what happens. Someone can claim that we do not have political prisoners and shrug off legal responsibility for them.”

—Marzieh Rahimi, wife of imprisoned member of the Central Council of the Islamic Revolution Mujahedin Organization Abolfazl Ghadyani. Ghadyani originally served a one-year sentence and is currently serving an additional three-year sentence on charges of “propaganda against the regime, insulting the President,” and “insulting the Supreme Leader.”

“My recommendation to Mr. Larijani is to get a new prescription for his glasses, and then to clean the lenses, so that he can see around himself a little better. … What kind of evidence and documentation can he show me and others like me to make us believe that there are no political prisoners in Iran? In a country where a lawyer like Abdolfattah Soltani has been sentenced to 18 years in prison and his wife has been threatened with imprisonment for accepting his human rights award, how can you say that there are no political prisoners?”

—Azadeh Forghani, wife of imprisoned economist and writer Fariborz Raisdana. Raisdana is serving a one-year sentence on charges of “propaganda against the regime.

Source: Inside of Iran

Ex-Revolutionary Guards general reveals dissent within elite Iranian force

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Ex-Revolutionary Guards general reveals dissent within elite Iranian force

Former senior officer accuses Khamenei of having ‘blood on his hands’ and questions intentions over nuclear programme.

A former general of Iran‘s powerful Revolutionary Guards has accused the supreme 

leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of having blood on his hands over the brutal crackdown on the opposition, and described government claims that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful as a “sheer lie”.

In a letter to prominent opposition activist Mohammad Nourizad (website in Farsi), the former officer gives a rare glimpse of political dissent within the ranks of the elite force in charge of the nuclear programme and Khamenei’s personal security.

Identified only by his initials, the general says that he and a number of his colleagues were threatened with execution for disloyalty and then – after a series of secret courts-martial – dismissed “because we refused to participate in the betrayals and the crimes committed by our seniors”.

“I’m writing this letter to you to tell our people that there are still many generals and members of staff within the Revolutionary Guards who are opposed to these crimes and are waiting to join the people,” the letter reads.

Speaking to the Guardian by telephone from Tehran, Nourizad – who published the general’s letter on his website – said he was convinced of its authenticity because it was handed to him in person by the former general.

“This is one of the many such letters written by senior figures within the Sepah [Revolutionary Guards] that I have received. I have refrained from publishing many of them because I was worried they might pose security problems,” said Nourizad.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are an elite force separate from the Iranian army and under the direct command of the country’s supreme leader. The corps was founded to protect Iran’s revolutionary values, but has become increasingly involved in politics and business.

In the aftermath of the fiercely disputed 2009 elections, several dozen Revolutionary Guards generals, as well as senior figures in the informal voluntary Basij militia, were replaced for refusing to use violence against unarmed protesters.

According to the general, the order to open fire on the protesters came from the top. “[In 2009,] the leader [Khamenei] asked Rahim Safavi [a former chief commander of the guards] whether he would be prepared to run over people with tanks if they took to streets to revolt. He said yes and the leader gave him the order,” he writes.

“They shut our mouth for years by saying that the leader wanted this or that … But we could no more keep it shut after the post-election bloodshed. This was the point many spoke out or simply refused to comply.”

According to the general, Khamenei was also personally involved in the restrictions imposed on the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who is still under house arrest with little access to the outside world. “How can a supreme leader with blood on his hands be close to God?,” he asks.

The general also accuses Khamenei of lying about Iran’s nuclear programme, which is now subject to an international dispute, the general casts doubt on what the regime officials claim to be “peaceful” activities, describing them as the country’s “nuclear gamble”.

“The inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency are fooling themselves if they believe that the nuclear facilities on and under the ground are only for peaceful purposes,” he writes. “The leader said [in a fatwa] that Iran has only peaceful intentions with its nuclear activities. This is a sheer lie.”

“We undertook this nuclear gamble with the leader’s knowledge – that’s why we are paying billions of dollars into Chinese and Russian bank accounts so that they support us in international negotiations and we could find a way out of this stalemate.” Opposition activists often accuse the Iranian government of securing political support from China and Russia with preferential oil contracts and business opportunities.

Amid strict economic sanctions and growing tensions in the Gulf, Iran has periodically threatened to block the strait of Hormuz, a passageway through which 20% of the world’s oil supply passes. But the general said that in the event of any hostilities, Iran’s forces in the Gulf would not be able to resist for more than a day.

The general accuses the Revolutionary Guards of corruption and involvement in smuggling and the illegal transfer of foreign currency. “Is it not ridiculous? The presidential office established a unit to combat smuggling but at the same time, senior guards generals were doing exactly the same thing in the southern islands of Qeshm, Hormuz and Abu Musa,” he writes. “We tolerated the guards’ economic activities and involvement in smuggling with the excuse of raising funds for its revolutionary ideas.”

Source: Guardian

Political prisoner sentenced to death

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Political prisoner sentenced to death

Houshang Rezaei was arrested in the spring of 2010 in western Iran and was transferred to the Intelligence Ministry’s Ward 209 inEvin prison. He was sentenced to death in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Moghayeseh after a trial that lasted only few minutes. Houshang Rezaei was convicted on charges of Moharebeh (enmity against God, punishable by death) through cooperation and association with a banned Kurdish political party.

Source: Iran Daily Brief

Iranian activist to serve 7 years in jail

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Iranian activist to serve 7 years in jail

Iranian activists and journalist Nasour Taghipour has been arrested to serve out a seven-year sentence.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that Taghipour’s sentence has been approved by the appellate court and he was summoned yesterday to serve out his sentence at Evin Prison.

Taghipour was arrested in March of 2010 in Qazvin, on the day that the Islamic Republic carried out a widespread crackdown on human rights activists, arresting 46 of them.

The crackdown led to stiff prison terms and heavy fines for members of the Human Rights Activists of Iran as well as damage to six of their websites.

After being held in solitary confinement for 110 days, Taghipour was released on bail in June of 2010 and was later sentenced to seven years in prison.

Taghipour was charged with “membership in the Human Rights Activists of Iran” and “propaganda against the regime.”

The 29-year-old IT graduate is not a member of the human rights organization and has only served at its web designer.

Taghiour also ran a website called Nasour that archived literary articles.

Source: Radiozamaneh

Infiltrations in the Guards Corps?

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Infiltrations in the Guards Corps?

Bahram Rafiei

In his latest remarks, the head of Iran’s military police who had earlier warned of “differences and divisions” within the armed forces, called on “alertness and protection” of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) members and asked the authorities of the force to not allow “infiltrators to get into the Guards Corps.”

Speaking at a government seminar that included managers and representatives of the supreme leader involved in the work of selecting new recruits in the IRGC, cleric Mohammad Kazem Bahrami said, “The importance of the IRGC is such that the slightest violation or injustice can produce unacceptable consequences. It is important to prevent infiltrations inside the body of the force.”

In his remarks, he noted that “prevention of harm” and “battling mishaps” in a force such as the IRGC were absolutely necessary and stressed that “in addition to prevention, we must also be alert on issues inside the Guards. Good cultural work has been done in the force and this acts as an internal control.”

Last February too, speaking at a seminar titled “Protection and Intelligence” for judiciary managers in the armed forces Bahrami had said that “differences and division” were among the most important issues that could harm the armed forces. “Espionage and overthrow are not the only issues that can harm the security of the country. Differences most certainly have destructive consequences,” he had said.

The program to “monitor and approve” the members of the IRGC has been regularly pursued in recent years by representatives of ayatollah Khamenei in the force and the coordination deputy of the Guards, as the organization has evolved.

General Mohammad Hossein Sepehr, the IRGC deputy for coordination whose job is to coordinate the activities of the representatives of the supreme leader in the IRGC had also earlier said, “The IRGC, soldiers and Basiji members must be trained in such a manner that they remain immune to the threats that they may face,” remarks that indicate the presence of the problem at the force and the need for this to be emphasized and focused.

Among the changes witnessed in the IRGC in recent years, particularly after the disputed and crisis ridden presidential elections of 2009 is the replacement of the older and some disgruntled members of the force with younger blood which came about on direct orders of ayatollah Khamenei and was pursued by the force’s commanders and his representatives.

Abbasali Dehghan, the ayatollah Khamenei representative in the IRGC who is responsible for recruitments in the force described the new features of the Guards about two weeks ago. “As the respected gentleman (ayatollah Khamenei) has delicately said, the best characteristics of a member of the force are having a strong faith, courage, the readiness to be martyred, a strong spiritual base, the ability to identify the enemy, intelligence, wisdom and having a Basiji and revolutionary outlook, discipline, activism in the revolution, belonging to a good family, accepting the leadership of the clerics, possessing a military attitude, speed, readiness to perform jihad and absolute defense, … . These are also our recruiting criteria for people into the force,” he said.

Concerns about differences among the members of the IRGC and infiltrations inside the force, and consequently calls for better recruitment practices and standards by representatives of ayatollah Khamenei in the force, are being pursued as more signs have emerged indicating differences of opinion in the cadre and even commanders of the force at various levels and among Basijis, including some retired commanders.

A large portion of the body of the IRGC is made up of people who joined the force when Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s was Prime Minister (in the eighties). Many of the old guard in the force enjoy good ties with Hashemi Rafsanjani, who at the time was the Speaker of the Majlis and in charge of the 8-year war with Iraq and also with Mehdi Karoubi who headed the Bonyad Shahid martyrs foundation on orders of ayatollah Khomeini. This contrasts with the situation after the 2009 presidential election fiasco when the commanders of the IRGC called Mousavi and Karoubi counter-revolutionaries and even attacked Rafsanjani and labeled him to be a fifth column opponent.

In this light, Ali Ashraf Nouri, the head of the political bureau of the IRGC had announced his dissatisfaction with the political-ideological activities of the force to protect the integrity of the members of the force.”The current political-ideological activities of the force to protect the integrity of the members of the IRGC, their families and the Basijis are not sufficient,” he said. That view resulted in new policies and programs that included the “messenger program” and political clinics to remove the “mental and political illness” and “disillusionments” among the members of the force.

Knowledge of these problems of the IRGC over the recent years have found their way outside this key military force in the Islamic republic, an organization that some representatives of ayatollah Khamenei in the force have said is now the only group that stands firm behind the supreme leader of the country.

Source: Roozonline

Jailed activist hospitalized

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Jailed activist hospitalized

Jailed Iranian human rights activist Nargess Mohammadi has been hospitalized since Monday, the Melli-Mazhabi website reported today.

The report indicates that Mohammadi is currently in critical condition and her family had been urging the authorities to transfer her to a hospital for several weeks.

During their last visit, Mohammadi was said to have had a swollen and bruised face, explaining that she had fainted and fallen on the prison bathroom floor.

Mohammadi was first arrested in 2009 and released on bail. Later sentenced to 11 years in prison, she was arrested in May and taken to Zanjan Prison to serve out her sentence.

Mohammadi was sentenced for her human rights activities and her connection to the Human Rights Defenders Centre. She is charged with “threatening national security and propaganda against the regime.”

Mohammadi’s two underage children are currently in the care of their grandparents. Her husband, Taghi Rahmani, another Iranian activist, had to flee the country earlier this year to avoid further persecution.

Source: Radiozamaneh

Lives of several imprisoned journalist and netizens in danger

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Lives of several imprisoned journalist and netizens in danger

Around 30 members and supporters of Reporters Without Borders and Iranian activists demonstrated outside the Iran Air office on the Champs Elysées in Paris this afternoon in protest against the arbitrary arrest and torture of journalists and netizens in Iran, some of whom have already died in detention and others are in danger of dying.

Five of the demonstrators played the part of journalists who have been targeted. They were made up to look as though they had been beaten or tortured, with whip marks, bruises, split eyebrows, broken noses and so on. The demonstrators brandished placards saying “Iran: solitary confinement, torture, murders” and “Free journalists in Iran” and distributed flyers.

Today is the ninth of anniversary of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi’s death in detention as a result of mistreatment by judicial officials in Tehran’s Evin prison. Deaths such as Kazemi’s go completely unpunished in the Islamic Republic. Reporters Without Borders calls for more vigilance as other journalists could die at the hands of its prison torturers.

“We fear for the lives of several imprisoned journalists who are ill, whose physical and psychological health has been undermined, and who are being held in the same jail or in the same conditions as Kazemi when she received the blow that killed her,” Reporters Without Borders said.

“We draw the international community’s particular attention to the cases of Narges Mohammadi,Mohammad Sadegh Kabodvand, Bahman Ahamadi Amoee, Arash Honarvar Shojai and Mohammad Solimaninya, and we call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those who have been arrested for reporting news and information, a legitimate activity, or for exercising their right to free expression.”

Five detained journalists and netizens whose lives are in particular danger

Former newspaper editor Mohammad Sadegh Kabodvand has been on hunger strike for more than 40 days in protest against the continuing inhumane refusal by the judicial authorities to allow him to visit his son, who is very ill and who is hospitalized in Tehran.

The onetime editor of Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdestan(a newspaper closed by the authorities in 2004), Kabodvand has been held since July 2007 in Evin prison, where he is serving an 11-year sentence for creating a human rights organization in Iran’s Kurdish northwest. The prison authorities have also repeatedly refused his requests for medical parole for a heart ailment.

Bahman Ahamadi Amoee, a journalist held in Evin prison since June 2009, was transferred to Rajaishahr prison in the northern city of Karaj on 12 June after participating in a ceremony by inmates in Section 350 in honour of Hoda Saber, a journalist who died on 12 June 2011 as a result of going on hunger strike.

Rajaishahr is one of Iran’s worst prisons, one where many cases of torture, rape and murder have been reported. Amoee has been constantly harassed by the judicial authorities ever since his arrest. On his return from appearing before a Tehran revolutionary court on 25 June 2011, he was placed in isolation and denied visits. His family has not heard from him since then.

Arash Honarvar Shojai, a 30-year-old theologian and blogger (http://honarvarnetessays.persianblog.ir), was arrested on 28 October 2010 in Tehran and was sentenced to four years in prison, a fine of 800,000 tomans (53 euros) and 50 lashes on a charge of keeping a blasphemous blog anonymously, a charge he denies. He has been on hunger strike since the start of July to protest against prison conditions. His family is very worried as he has had several nervous breakdowns and the prison authorities refuse to give him the medicine he needs.

Reporters Without Borders learned on 30 June that Mohammad Solimaninya, the head of the social networking site u24, was arrested again after being was summoned to Evin prison. He was previously arrested on 10 January and was then released on bail of 40 million tomans (4,500 euros) on 22 May. His family has not heard of him since his second arrest and the authorities refuse to tell them where he is being held.

A journalist and spokesperson for the Centre for Human Rights Defenders, Narges Mohammadi was arrested in the northern city of Zanjan on 21 April and was taken to Tehran’s Evin prison to begin serving a six-year jail sentence on charges of anti-government propaganda, collaborating with the centre and “meeting and conspiring against the Islamic Republic.”

She was originally arrested at her home in June 2010 but had a nervous breakdown as a result of the pressure put on her during interrogation. After being granted a provisional release in July 2010, she was hospitalized with muscle paralysis. Although still seriously ill and despite having recurring heart problems, she was transferred on 16 May from Tehran back to the main prison in Zanjan, where the director, acting on the intelligence ministry’s orders, refused to let her be hospitalized. He eventually authorized her transfer to Vali Asar hospital in Zanjan, on 9 July. Narges Mohammadi, whose health is rapidely deteriorating, must not be sent back to jail. She has to be released as soon as possible.

Kazemi’s death in detention still unpunished

The degree of impunity enjoyed by Iranian government officials is exceptional. Zahra Kazemi, a 54-year-old photographer of Iranian origin who lived in Canada, was arrested during a visit to Iran on 23 June 2003, as she was photographing families of detainees waiting outside Evin prison. She was badly beaten during detention and died on 10 July 2003 from the injuries she had received. The authorities issued a report 10 days later that failed to specify the cause of death.

Under duress, Kazemi’s mother, an Iranian resident, agreed to a hasty burial on 22 July 2003. Ever since then, Kazemi’s son, Stephan Hashemi, who lives in Canada, has been asking for the body to be exhumed and repatriated to Canada so that an independent autopsy can be carried out.

The Kazemi family’s lawyers have repeatedly condemned all the judicial proceedings in Iran as a sham. Their requests for senior judicial officials to appear in court have never been satisfied, depriving them of key witnesses. In particular, Saeed Mortazavi, the prosecutor who ordered Kazemi’s arrest and was present when she was interrogated in Evin prison, has never been questioned in court. Protected by Iran’s two Predators of Freedom of Information, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he enjoys complete impunity and continues to extend his influence under the theocratic regime.

Reporters Without Borders supported the civil lawsuit that Hashemi brought against the Iranian government before the Quebec high court, claiming damages for his mother’s arrest, detention, torture and death. We urge Canada and the European Union to support this legal action, in order to end the impunity in this case.

Tribute to other victims of the regime

Former Iran-e-Farda editor Hoda Saber, a 52-year-old journalist who had been detained since August 2010, died of a heart attack on 12 June 2011. The next day, 64 political prisoners held in the same section of Evin prison as Saber, Section 350, issued a joint statement that was smuggled out of the prison. It said: “The prison authorities did not do what was necessary to transfer him to hospital in time, and he was mistreated by the staff of the Evin prison infirmary.”

Ten days before Saber died, he had begun a hunger strike in protest against the tragic death of Haleh Sahabi, a fellow journalist and women’s rights activist. Sahabi died a few hours after being physically attacked on 1 June 2011, at the funeral of her father, Ezatollah Sahabi, a leading opposition politician who had died of natural causes two days before. Eye witnesses are convinced that her death was a direct result of this attack. As a result of pressure from security agents, she was hastily buried at night without the traditional rites that normally accompany a Muslim woman’s funeral.

Alireza Eftekhari, a 29-year-old former journalist died on 15 June 2009 from a cerebral attack after being beaten. His family was not given his body until a month later and the exact circumstances of his death are still unknown. His name joins the long list of journalists who have been murdered in Iran. An investigation is needed to establish exactly how he came to die.

Those responsible for the deaths of four journalists in 1998 – Majid Charif, Mohamad Mokhtari,Mohamad Jafar Pouyandeh and Pirouz Davani– must also be brought to account. At the same time, the authorities never explained how Ayfer Serçe, a Turkish woman journalist of Kurdish origin working for the Firat news agency, came to be killed by Iranian soldiers sometime between 20 and 23 July 2006 in Keleres, in Iran’s northwestern region of Azerbaijan. And finally, an investigation is needed into the young blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi’s death in detention in 2009.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is the world’s second biggest prison for news providers, with a total of 33 journalists and 19 bloggers currently detained.

Source: Reporters Without Borders

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