A Week at Evin! (May 2 - May 8)

Shirko Moarefi’s Life in Danger

The International Campaign for Abolishing the Death Penalty in Iran – Shirko Moarefi’s death sentence has been upheld for the second time by branch 27 of the Supreme Court. The case file was sent to the Execution of Sentences Circuit in Kurdistan, according to Shirko Moarefi’s lawyer, Ahmad Saeed Sheikhi who confirmed the news on April 27th to the International Campaign for Abolishing the Death Penalty in Iran.

“Contrary to the ruling of the Chief of the Supreme Court stating that the ‘execution’ of Shirko is against the religion and the law [of the country], branch 27 of the Supreme Court has again upheld the lower court ruling,” Ahmad Saeed Sheikhi said.

Shirko Moarefi’s other lawyer, Khalil Bahramian told Radio Neda, “I am anxious that Shirko Moarefi’s death sentence can be carried out any moment.” According to Khalil Bahramian, one of his lawyers in Iran, Moarefi's conviction has been upheld by the supreme court and he was scheduled to be hanged on Sunday morning but his execution was delayed for a possible judicial review.

A letter attributed to Shirko Moarefi that was published on April 15th addressed human rights activists and civil institutions about his imminent execution. The letter was signed by Shirko Moarefi on behaf of other political prisoner as well. An excerpt reads, “Our only hope lies in the people and the resistance and struggle of you, the human rights activists and civil and popular institutions. We consider you our voice in continuing the resistance.”

Shirko Moarefi is one of the Kurdish activists who was arrested on October 1, 2008, in the village of Dowlat Ghaleh near Saghez, and was sentenced to death by the lower court. The sentence was later upheld by the Appeals Court.

Shirko Moarefi was at risk of execution another time in fall 2009; although the execution was delayed due to efforts made by human rights activists and the stay of execution request Amnesty International sent to the Iranian authorities on March 30, 2009.

Both human rights organisations have expressed alarm over the increase in capital punishment in Iran, which last year executed more people than any other country, apart from China.

ALSO READ The Guardian: Kurdish activist Sherko Moarefi facing execution in Iran

TAKE ACTION: Sign the petition to halt the  execution of Shirko Moarefi

 

Mansour Osanloo Transferred to Hospital for Critical Decline in Health

Mansour Osanloo,  the head of Vahed Transit Drivers Union, was taken to a hospital outside the prison for treatment of his heart condition. In March, Osanloo’s sister, Fereshteh Osanloo reported that her brother had three blocked arteries in his heart and required immediate medical treatment. She added that her family had repeatedly urged authorities to allow Osanloo to leave prison for the necessary medical treatment but they were turned down every time. Osnaloo had recently participated in the collective hunger strike at Rejai Shahr Prison in Karaj to protest poor prison conditions.

Osanloo is a leading trade union activist in Iran where he has been imprisoned several times from 2005 to 2008. Osanloo is currently held in Evin Prison, serving a five-year prison sentence. He is a founding member of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, an independent union that has been campaigning vigorously for workers’ rights.

Rajai Shahr Political Prisoners Continue Hunger Strike in Protest to Dictatorship

The hunger strikers initially launched their protest in solidarity with Fakhrolsadat Mohtashamipour, a member of the Iran Islamic Participation Front who was on hunger strike at that time before being transferred to a hospital a few days later. Two weeks ago, the hunger striking prisoners wrote an open letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. They called upon the UN Secretary General to send a Special Rapporteur to Iran to address prisoner conditions and to investigate the human rights violations.

An excerpt from the open letter written by Rajai Shahr hunger striking prisoners to the UN Secretary General:

“Following [our] hunger strike experience on April 10th, we, a number of political prisoners and civil and political activists, will fast for one day on April 17th. In the second week, we will fast for two days on April 24th and April 25th. In the third week, in honour of International Workers’ Day, Teachers’ Day, and World Press Freedom Day, we will fast for three days on May 1st, May 2nd, and May 3rd. We announce our solidarity with workers, teachers, and journalists and protest the oppression and the great pressures exerted on them.”

The political prisoners at Rajai Shahr prison, held under dire conditions and deprived of all telephone contact, also stated, “In the event that the current regime does not cease its authoritarian rule and continues to deny the implementation of the nation’s legal provisions based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this protest movement will resume in the form of an unlimited hunger strike on May 22nd and will continue until we have achieved our demands.”
(English Translation of Daneshjoo News report by Banooye Sabz)

List of political prisoners on hunger strike in Rajai Shahr prison:

Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, Mansour Osanloo (On May 6th, Mansour Osanloo was transferred to a hospital), Isa Saharkhiz, Khaled Hardani, Seyed Mehdi Mahmoudian, Keyvan Samimi, Rasoul Bedaghi, Majid Tavakoli, Behrouz Javid Tehrani, Reza Sharifi Boukani, Hassan Taffah, Ali Ajami, Jafar Aghdami



Researcher Omid Kokabi from the University of Texas was arrested

Omid Kokabi, an Iranian post doctoral researcher at the University of Texas, was detained while visiting his family in Iran, on charges of "relationships with enemy states”. Kokabi belongs to Sunni minority and was among the top performers in Iran's Science Olympiad. He is reportedly kept more than one month in solitary confinement and now has been transferred to Iran's notorious Evin prison (ward 350). Kokabi received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Spain in the field of applied physics. His B.Sc. was from Sharif University of Technology on 2005. This is the link to his website at the University of Texas. http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~kokabee/ 

Azeri Student Activist Farzin Rahimi Sentenced to Prison

Farzin Rahimi, a software engineering student, was arrested in 2009 during a student gathering and was later released on bail. He has been sentenced to a year in prison for founding an illegal student group and 4 months in prison for insulting the Supreme Leader. His trial was held along with the trial of two reformist activists Mousa Saket and Ata Alizadeh.

 

Student Activist Ashkan Zahabian Summoned to Serve Prison Sentence



Ashkan Zahabian, a student activist at Babol Noshirvani University of Technology was detained on May 2^nd, at noon after he had turned himself in to the Shahid Kachooie prison in Sari (the provincial capital city of the Mazandaran province), according to the Committee of Human Rights Reporters.

Zahabian is a member of the General Branch of the Daftar-e Tahkim Vahdat (student alumni) organization. In February 2010, Ashkan Zahabian, without his presence, was sentenced to six months in prison by Judge Rezaieian in the Babol Revolutionary Court.

The charge against the student activist is, “Acting against national security through the formation of Islamic Associations in the north of the country”. On June 16, 2009, Ashkan Zahabian was arrested after he was beaten by members of the regime force known as Ansar. He was held for one month in solitary confinement at the Sari Ministry of Intelligence and the Mati Kola prisons.

Ashkan Zahabian has been sent to prison twice on the same charge. Recently, he was officially expelled from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, following two years of suspension. Ashkan Zahabian was 20 credits shy of receiving his Bachelor’s degree.

 Malekpour, an Iranian-Canadian dual national and web developer, accused of establishing

Saeed Malekpour, an Iranian-Canadian dual national and web developer, accused of establishing “pornographic websites.” He has been reportedly tortured to confess to these charges.

Previously, in a letter to the Head of the Judiciary, his wife had stated that she had found out that Malekpour will be sentenced to death after a conversation Malekpour’s lawyer has had with Judge Moghiseh. She had mentioned that he has made false confessions under torture after being held in solitary confinement for a year. She had also stated that the trial was only 15 minutes long which shows that the verdict had been issued without an opportunity for Malekpour to present his defense. You can watch Malekpour’s wife message on YouTube.

Iranian officials should base convictions on reliable evidence and due process instead of televised confessions and dramatic re-enactments, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

The Campaign added that coerced confessions are being used to convict criminal and political defendants alike, while state media is used to sell dubious death sentences and verdicts to the Iranian and international public.

Iran executed at least 350 persons in 2008; at least 388 in 2009; and over 442 in 2010, including 242 officially announced, and over 200 secret executions reported to the Campaign at Vakilabad Prison. On a per capita basis, Iran executes more people than any other country.

Another year has been added to the 11-year prison term handed to journalist and human rights activist Abolfazl Abedini

Abolfazl Abedini Nasr, a 28-year-old human rights activist and a former member of the Human Rights Activists in Iran and recently sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment has been transferred to Evin Prison’s clinic. The Iranian Human Rights News Agency (RHANA) reports that an extra year was added to Abedini's sentence for "propaganda against the regime." Abedini was arrested in the summer of 2009 and released on bail that November. He was arrested again in December of 2009 and transferred to the notorious section 2A of Evin Prison.

He was later transferred to Ahvaz prison in Southwestern Iran where he was denied any visiting or telephone privileges. According to several reports by human rights activists, Abedini has been subjected to beatings in jail.

Abolfazl Abedini Nasr is a former public relations officer of the non-governmental organization Human Rights Activists in Iran, which investigates and publicizes human rights violations, and a member of the Pan-Iranist party, a banned political opposition party.

Asareh Eyvazi, Abolfazl Abedini Nasr’s mother, in a letter to Iran’s Head of the Judiciary on April 2010 wrote:  “What crime has he committed that he deserves to be tortured? Is defending the rights of Haft Tapeh factory workers, drivers’ union workers, and other organizations a crime?” Abolfazl Abedini Nasr has a heart defect that requires medication and frequent check-ups.

Watch the video “Free Abolfazl Abedini Nasr jailed journalist in Iran” on YouTube.

Nationalist-Religious Activist Alireza Rajaei Arrested

Alireza Rajaei , political activist, has been arrested for committing security crimes. Security forces have arrested Alireza Rajaei, a member of the Nationalist- Religious faction. Rajaei was arrested once more during the protests that erupted following the rigged 2009 presidential election. Rajari has been an editor in a number of reformist publications including Irane Farda, Jame’e, Tous, Khordad, Neshat and Asre Azadegan.



Iranian-Canadian Web Developer in Danger of Imminent Execution, Based on a Forced Confession

Saeed Malekpour, an Iranian-Canadian dual national and web developer, accused of establishing “pornographic websites.” He has been reportedly tortured to confess to these charges.

Previously, in a letter to the Head of the Judiciary, his wife had stated that she had found out that Malekpour will be sentenced to death after a conversation Malekpour’s lawyer has had with Judge Moghiseh. She had mentioned that he has made false confessions under torture after being held in solitary confinement for a year. She had also stated that the trial was only 15 minutes long which shows that the verdict had been issued without an opportunity for Malekpour to present his defense. You can watch Malekpour’s wife message on YouTube.

Iranian officials should base convictions on reliable evidence and due process instead of televised confessions and dramatic re-enactments, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

The Campaign added that coerced confessions are being used to convict criminal and political defendants alike, while state media is used to sell dubious death sentences and verdicts to the Iranian and international public.

Iran executed at least 350 persons in 2008; at least 388 in 2009; and over 442 in 2010, including 242 officially announced, and over 200 secret executions reported to the Campaign at Vakilabad Prison. On a per capita basis, Iran executes more people than any other country.