An Iranian Woman & Her Children Holed Up Over 76 Days in Moscow (Video Clip)

[Rasputin]

MOSCOW, Nov 21 /Standard Newswire/ -- Zahra Kamalfar is an Iranian dissenter and mother of two teenage children. She is in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport and has been there with her children for 76 days. She is there because she was able to escape prison when on a two-day furlough to visit her children.



Photo: Zahra Kamalfar and her children.

Kamalfar was in prison because she protested against the Iranian Mullahs. Unless a miracle happens, she will soon be on a plane on her way to face those she protested, including the probability of torture and rape, and possibly death.




Pajamas Media Special Correspondent and noted Iran expert, Michael Ledeen, gives background on Iranian dissident Zahra Kamalfar and why she has been trapped in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport:



"This video documents an all-too common tragedy: Iranian opponents of the regime wandering the world in search of a country willing to let them live in safety. In many ways, it is reminiscent of the plight of the European Jews during the Nazi period. Then, too, refugees knocked on the doors of many nations, often ending back in the Reich.



"Zahra Kamalfar participated in demonstrations six years ago. She and her husband were jailed in 2004, in her case for 8 months. Released for a two-day furlough so she could see her two children (Ana and Davood), she and the kids escaped to Turkey with forged Bulgarian passports (her own was held by the regime).



"She headed for Germany via Russia, but the Germans detected the false passports and send the three back to Moscow, where she applied for asylum. At first the family was permitted to live in an airport hotel, but then was dumped into the public area of the airport. They sleep in the open terminal, have no access to showers or baths, and use public toilets. The Russians are threatening to ship her and her children back to Iran, where she will undoubtedly receive very harsh treatment.



"She has appealed for refugee status to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, but to no avail. There is an online petition to both the UNHCR and Russian immigration authorities. Time seems quite short.



"Ms Kamalfar is guilty of being an Iranian who wants to live in a free country. That is a felony in Ali Khamenei's Iran, and a matter of considerable indifference to the "international community," which neither helps people like her once they escape, nor the tens of millions of Iranians inside the country, even though their demands for freedom should be embraced and supported by all civilized countries and their peoples."



Watch The Video Clip Here : http://pajamasmedia.com/2006/11/iran...apped_in_m.php

[golgol85]

this is very sad. is there anything that can be done for her? what if she applies for asylum in the US? If she goes back to iran, bichareh she will end up another newspaper heading being killed, raped, tortured and her children are not safe there. by the way, nothing is mentioned about her husband so i am guessing he is still in jail, which means he will be tortured because of his wife's escape. what a brave woman, i commend her for what she has done and i hope that there will be a way to save her life so she doesnt have to go back to iran.

[Rasputin]

Is so sad when nobody can help them.

[Rasputin]

FLASH: In the dramatic case of an Iranian dissident woman and her family fighting extradition to the Islamic Republic of Iran … Pajamas Media, as of 9:10 PST Wednesday, has been informed that the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has just issued an order barring the deportation of Zahra Kamalfar and her children from Moscow for two weeks.

Aeroflot - the airline that was going to take Kamalfar and her children to Tehran - has been notified and is reportedly complying. Aeroflot is returning the family belongings that already were shipped by the airline to Tehran. Moscow airport authorities have given the family temporary blankets, etc.

The Kamalfar family is represented by Olga Anisimova, an attorney based in Moscow for the international law firm, Orrick, Harrington & Sutcliffe. Via email to Pajamas Media, Attorney Anisimova confirms the situation at present as:

On November 21 we sent a request to the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg) according to Rule # 39 of the Rules of this Court. Rule # 39 states that the applicant or his/her representatives is entitled to seek a preliminary relief, i.e. to ask the Court to take urgent measures in order to protect his/her rights even before the applicant files a complaint with the Court. In our request we asked the Court to take measures which will suspend Ms. Kamalfar’s deportation from Russia. The Court examined our request immediately. On November 22 we received a letter from the Court informing us that the urgent measure was granted. Here is the excerpt from the letter:

“On November 21, 2006 the President of the Chamber to which the case has been allocated decided, in the interests of the parties and the proper conduct of the proceedings before the Court, to indicate to the Government of Russia, under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, that the applicant should not be expelled to Iran until further notice”.