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Prisoner of
conscience Akbar Ganji has reportedly told a court that he has been beaten
and tortured in prison, and that he is going to start a hunger strike in
protest.
Journalist
Akbar Ganji was brought before Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court in
Tehran on 9 November. He reportedly stated to the judge that he had been
kicked and punched by four prison guards and the warden of Evin Prison,
and that he had been brought to the court by force (he reportedly does not
recognize the validity of the court and the charges against him).
He reportedly
stated that before he was brought to court he had been hung upside down in
a cell while four guards kicked him in the head and stomach.
He reportedly
stated that he was going to go on hunger strike in protest at the
treatment he had suffered, which included 80 days in solitary confinement,
without access to family or his lawyer.
The judge reportedly requested that
Akbar Ganji produce witnesses to substantiate his claims.
Akbar Ganji
reportedly faces charges in connection with statements he reportedly made
at a social and cultural conference entitled "Iran After the
Elections" held at the Heinrich Böll Institute in Berlin, 7-9 April.
The charges reportedly involve "threatening national
security," "dissemination of propaganda against the Islamic
system", and insulting religious edicts and figures, such as the
former Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
All o the other
participants at the April conference, including two translators and
assistants, are facing charges. Together in court with Akbar Ganji was
translator Khalil Rostamkhani, who has been denied bail since he was
arrested on 8 May. It has been reported that journalist Ezzatollah Sahabi
and novelist Maniru Ravanipur are reportedly to go on trial on 14
November.
Fourteen of the
19 people charged in connection with the conference have so far appeared
in court. These are: the lawyer Mehrangiz Kar (f) and publisher Shahla
Lahiji (f); publisher Shahla Sherkat (f), Majles (parliament) member
Jamileh Kadivar (f), journalist Alireza Alavitabar, novelist Mahmoud
Dolatabadi, poet Mohammad Ali Sepanlu, journalist Hamid Reza Jalaipour,
academic Fariborz Raisdana and environmental activist
Khadijeh
Moqaddam (f). If any of them have been imprisoned solely because of
statements they made at the Berlin conference, Amnesty International will
consider them prisoners of conscience.
There are
reports that researcher and journalist Hojjatoleslam Yousefi Eshkevari may
be facing the death penalty, after he was tried in the Special Court for
the Clergy in connection with statements he made at the conference in
Berlin. A verdict has reportedly been issued but it has not been made
public.
The Iranian
authorities have been clamping down on freedom of expression since before
the conference. In April around 20 newspapers were closed by the Press
Court and in an unprecedented move on 6 August, the Leader of the Islamic
Republic, Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, called upon Majles members to
halt debate concerning reform of the existing Press Code, which limits
freedom of expression in Iran. Other journalists, including Mashallah
Shamsolvaezin, Emadeddin Baqi and publisher Hojjatoleslam Abdollah Nouri
have been imprisoned in connection with newspaper articles. Atttacks on
the press and journalists have been condemned by the Secretary of the
government-approved Islamic Human Rights Commission,Mohammad Hassan Zia'i-Far.
FURTHER RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please send
telegrams/faxes/express/ airmail letters in English, French or in your own
language:
-
calling for an immediate
halt to the torture and ill-treatment of Akbar Ganji and the immediate
and public investigation of his allegation that four prison guards and
the warden of Evin prison beat him;
-
seeking guarantees from the
authorities that Akbar Ganji will be treated humanely in detention;
-
urging that Akbar Ganji and
all other prisoners of conscience be released immediately and
unconditionally;
-
seeking urgent clarification
of the charges faced by Akbar Ganji and other participants at the
conference in Berlin;
-
seeking assurances that
Akbar Ganji will be granted immediate and regular access to his family
and lawyer.
APPEALS TO:
1) Postal mail:
Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali
Khamenei,
The Presidency,
Palestine Avenue,
Azerbaijan
Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegrams: Ayatollah Khamenei,
Tehran, Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
2) Postal mail:
President His
Excellency Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami
The Presidency,
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan
Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegrams: President Khatami,
Tehran, Iran
Salutation:Your Excellency
3) Postal mail:
Head of
Judiciary
His Excellency
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahrudi
Ministry of
Justice, Park-e Shahr,
Tehran, Islamic
Republic of Iran
Telegrams:
Head of the Judiciary, Tehran, Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Minister of
Foreign Affairs,
His Excellency
Kamal Kharrazi
Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Avenue
Tehran, Islamic
Republic of Iran
Mr Mohammad
Hassan Zia'i-Far
Secretary,
Islamic Human Rights Commission
PO Box
13165-137, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Faxes: + 98 21 204 0541
And to
diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check
with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending
appeals after 22 December |