Rallies have taken place in Tehran and Paris calling for Iran to release dissident Akbar Ganji and other political prisoners.
Ganji, a journalist, has been in jail since his arrest in April of 2000. His arrest followed his participation in an academic and cultural conference held in Berlin just days before which was entitled "Iran After the Elections", at which political and social reform in Iran were publicly debated. After a trial before the Revolutionary Court in Tehran he was sentenced on January 13, 2001 to a to ten years’ imprisonment plus five years’ internal exile, four years for his attendance at the conference and six years for other charges, including "spreading propaganda against the Islamic regime", for a series of articles he had written implicating leading figures in the murders of several dissidents and intellectuals in the mid-late 90’s. That sentence was eventually reduced to six months in prison. However, new charges were filed which upped the term to six years. Ganji has been on a hunger strike since June in protest of his treatment by the authorities. On July 17, Ganji was transferred to a hospital, where he has been placed under quarantine and prevented from regular access to his family and legal representatives, the latter restriction in violation of Iranian law. Ganji now weighs just 52 kilos and is unconscious most of the time.
According to an IRNA report, more than 30 press activists staged a symbolic hunger strike from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Ganji’s support at the premises of the Journalists Guild Association. Prominent political and media figures, including Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, Ahmad Bourghani, Issa Saharkhiz, Ahmad Zeidabadi, Rajabali Mazrouei, Ali Afshari, Alireza Rajaie and Hassan Yousefi-Eshkevari, participated in the hunger strike.
Also in Tehran, a vigil headed by his wife is being held in front of the United Nations Office.
In Paris, Reporters Without Borders activists demonstrated outside the Iran Air office on the Champs Elysées. "Ganji is now on the 53rd day of a hunger strike but the Iranian authorities still refuse to release him," the press freedom organization said. "So we are all outside Iran Air to demonstrate our outrage at such contempt for human life, because it is utterly horrifying that they are letting Ganji die to punish him for expressing his views."
Meanwhile, the Iranian government has intensified its attacks on independent human rights defenders in recent days. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports that last Saturday evening, “agents of the Judiciary, operating under the authority of Tehran chief prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, arrested (Abdolfattah) Soltani inside the offices of the Lawyers Association in Tehran. The next day, a Judiciary spokesman announced that Soltani was arrested for "revealing secrets relating to the case of nuclear spies." Soltani is currently being held in Evin Prison in Tehran but has yet to be brought before a judge or formally charged.
Abdolfattah Soltani is one of the lawyers representing the mother of photographer Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist who died in Iranian custody under suspicious circumstances. Kazemi died in jail in July 2003 about three weeks after being detained for taking photographs outside a Tehran prison during anti-government protests. Lawyers of her family believe she was beaten to death. Hard line Iranian authorities say Kazemi died of a stroke, but a commission appointed by Iran’s president found she died of a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage that were caused by the impact of a hard object. Iran has repeatedly rejected Canadian requests for an international forensic team to examine the body, saying its judiciary is competent enough to carry out an investigation.
The Judiciary suggests that Soltani unlawfully divulged information from clients of his who have been charged with revealing Iran's nuclear secrets. But Soltani has no access to the files in the case. Instead, Human Rights Watch said the arrest appears to be a politically motivated response by the government to Soltani's role in the Zahra Kazemi case. On July 25, Soltani stated before the court of appeals that Kazemi had been in the custody of Judiciary agents and security forces when she was murdered, and that the Judiciary's continued inaction two years after her death was a cover-up. "Soltani's arrest is an ominous sign for human rights in Iran as the new president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prepares to take office," said Hadi Ghaemi, Iran researcher for Human Rights Watch.
Also last week the Judiciary made several threats against Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi who is Soltani’s co-counsel in the above mentioned case. The Judiciary alleged, according to AlertNet, Ebadi was orchestrating the hunger strike of imprisoned journalist Akbar Ganji and that she "has suspicious ties to foreigners." HRW's Ghaemi said, “With the threats against Nobel winner Shirin Ebadi with her international stature, how can any critic feel safe in Iran?"
Now, out of nowhere, has come the news that Tehran's Deputy Prosecutor Hassan Moqaddass has been gunned down by unknown assassins. Moqaddas was the presiding judge in Akbar Ganji's case and had also convicted other dissidents who attended that Berlin conference on reform in the Islamic Republic in 2000. Judiciary spokesman Jamal Karimi Rad said Moqaddass was shot dead in his car after leaving his central Tehran office on Tuesday.
Speaking to IRNA on the sidelines of funeral service for the late judge Moqaddass, head of Tehran Justice Department Abbasali Alizadeh said Wednesday that he hoped that the outcome of investigations would be made known soon. "It is not clear what had been the motive behind the assassination (of Tehran's Deputy Prosecutor) and it is still soon to make any comment," Alizadeh said.
Masoumeh Shafiei, wife of jailed journalist Akbar Ganji, condemned the assassination of judge Hassan Moqaddas. She expressed regret over such terrorist moves, saying "Terrorism, in any form and by anyone, should be condemned as an inhumane and indecent act." She also said dialogue and peaceful means are the best way to settle the problems in all fields. Sources: Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Daily Times (Pakistan), Alert Net Reporters Without Borders, English Pen, Iran Daily, Expatica, Aljazeera, Iran Daily
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