Haleh Esfandiari

[Rasputin]

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's judiciary said Tuesday it will decide within days whether to indict or free four Iranian-Americans charged with endangering national security in a case that has heightened bitterness between the rival nations.

The announcement came as Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, warned that the United States would "regret" its detention of five Iranian officials by U.S. forces in Iraq, which has angered Tehran for months.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack repeated U.S. calls for the Americans to be released and again rejected any link between them and the five Iranian detainees.

"You have a situation where you had five individuals who were engaged in activities related to trying to kill our troops," he said. "On the other hand, you have in Iran innocent civilians who for the most part were going there to visit family members, and in two cases these were grandmothers."

Iran has not directly linked its arrests of the four Americans over the past month and the January seizure of the Iranians, whom the U.S. accuses of arming and funding militants in Iraq.

But the Iranians' detention and a U.S. military build-up in the Persian Gulf have fueled Tehran's accusations that Washington is seeking to topple Iran's Islamic government. At the same time, tensions are high over claims by the U.S. and its allies that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry accuses the four arrested Americans of trying to build up a network that could eventually topple the government in a "soft revolution." The families and employers of the Americans have denied the accusations.

Ali Reza Jamshidi, the judicial spokesman, said a judge would complete his preliminary investigation "within the next two or three days."

"The judge will decide by next week whether to free or indict them" on charges of acting against national security, Jamshidi told reporters. Several weeks ago, Jamshidi said they had also been charged with espionage, but he did not repeat that Tuesday.

President Bush has demanded that Iran "immediately and unconditionally" release the four. And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told The Associated Press the four were accused "of things that clearly are untrue."

The four include Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, who has been jailed at Evin prison since early May. The 67-year-old Esfandiari was arrested while visiting Iran to see her ailing mother.

Two others in detention are Kian Tajbakhsh, an urban planning consultant with George Soros' Open Society Institute, and Ali Shakeri, a founding board member of the University of California, Irvine, Center for Citizen Peacebuilding. The fourth is Parnaz Azima, a journalist who works for the U.S.-funded Radio Farda and is out of jail on bail but not allowed to leave the country.

Esfandiari's husband, Shaul Bakhash, said the charges against his wife are "baseless."

"After 36 days in solitary confinement, it is about time the judiciary reached a decision in this matter," he said from Potomac, Md. "Any decision to go to trial or to continue making false accusations against my wife would obviously be a miscarriage of justice."

Jamshidi said Esfandiari was "in complete health," but Bakhash said he was worried about his wife. Esfandiari's mother has not been allowed to deliver medicine to her daughter, who weighed only about 100 pounds when she was taken into custody.

"Any assurances that she is in good health can only be confirmed when she is allowed to see her family and her lawyers," Bakhash said.

Esfandiari has for years brought prominent Iranians to Washington to talk about the political situation in Iran, some of whom have been subsequently detained and questioned at home. Her defenders say some of those she brought to the U.S. were supporters of the Iranian government who sought to explain its stance.

The arrests of the four Americans and the detention of the Iranians in Iraq have compounded the tensions between the two countries, at loggerheads over the violence in Iraq and the nuclear issue.

Iran has repeatedly demanded the release of five Iranians seized in a raid in northern Iraq, saying they are diplomats and guests of the Iraqi government.

Speaking of the detention, Mottaki warned, "We will make the Americans regret their ugly and illegal act." He did not elaborate.

However, Mottaki added that Iran was still willing to continue direct talks with the United States on Iraq, which began last month in Baghdad. And Iran's ambassador to Baghdad, Hasan Kazemi Qomi, who represented Iran at the May talks, said the issue of the "freedom of the diplomats" would be on the agenda of future Iran-U.S. talks.

[Rasputin]

Iran will make the United States "regret" its detention of five Iranians in Iraq since early this year, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday.

Iran says the five Iranians detained by U.S. forces in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil in January are diplomats and has demanded their release. U.S. officials say they were involved in supporting militants inside Iraq.

"We will make the Americans regret their ugly and illegal action against the Islamic Republic of Iran's consulate in Arbil, Iraq, and the abduction of the five Iranian diplomats," Mottaki said, according to the state broadcaster's Web site.

Mottaki said the Foreign Ministry had "put on its agenda a series of widespread actions against these unlawful and illegal actions that are in contradiction with all international conventions," the ISNA news agency said, without giving details.

The issue has fuelled tension between the two foes, already high because of Iran's disputed nuclear programme which the West suspects is aimed at making atom bombs, a charge Iran denies.

Further souring ties, Iran is holding three U.S.-Iranians on security-related charges. Tehran has dismissed any suggestions their cases might be linked to the five Iranians held in Iraq.

Mottaki said Iran would write to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the next few days complaining about the Security Council's "clear discrimination" in delaying putting the issue of the detained Iranians on its agenda.

HIGH-PROFILE MEETING

The Security Council has imposed two rounds of sanctions on Iran over its refusal to halt sensitive atomic work.

Despite his tough statement, Mottaki held the door open for new talks with the United States on how to end violence in Iraq.

"If ... the Americans are determined to solve the problem which they themselves are part of, we will put on the agenda the request by the Iraqi government to continue these negotiations with a positive view," he said.

U.S. and Iranian officials held the highest profile meeting between the two countries in almost three decades on May 28 in Baghdad, an encounter that both sides described as positive.

Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, was quoted by Iran's Fars News Agency as saying the next round of talks would be "soon" but did not give a date

"A great deal of these negotiations will be about the five employees of Iran's consulate," Rubaie said in Tehran. "Families of these five people will hear good news in coming weeks."

He gave no further details.

Iran's envoy to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, who represented Iran at the May talks, was quoted by ISNA as saying telephone conversations between the five and their families were now happening. He said there had been "agreements" for families to meet the five but did not say when such meetings would occur.

The United States accuses Iran of fomenting instability in Iraq. Iran rejects the accusation and blames the presence of U.S. forces in its neighbour for the violence.

Washington, which has led efforts to punish Iran over its nuclear activities, says it wants a diplomatic solution to the atomic row but has not ruled out military actions if that fails. Iran has repeatedly threatened to hit back if attacked.

[Rasputin]

TEHRAN, Iran - A judge will decide within the next few days whether to indict or free four Iranian-Americans charged with endangering national security, Iran's judiciary spokesman said Tuesday.

Iran's foreign minister, meanwhile, said the United States would "regret" its decision to detain five Iranian officials in Iraq — a case that has further riled U.S.-Iranian relations, already strained over Iran's nuclear program.

Ali Reza Jamshid, the judicial spokesman, said a judge would complete his preliminary investigation into the charge against the four Iranian-Americans "within the next two or three days."

Jamshidi said all four Iranian-Americans have been charged with acting against national security. Several weeks ago, he said they had also been charged with espionage, but he did not repeat that charge Tuesday.

The four include Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, who was jailed in Iran in early May.

The others are Kian Tajbakhsh, an urban planning consultant with George Soros' Open Society Institute; Parnaz Azima, a journalist who works for the U.S.-funded Radio Farda; and Ali Shakeri, a founding board member of the University of California, Irvine, Center for Citizen Peacebuilding.

Azima is out of jail on bail but not allowed to leave the country; the other three remain in custody.

President Bush has demanded that Iran "immediately and unconditionally" release the four scholars and activists held there. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently told The Associated Press the four were accused "of things that clearly are untrue."

Family, colleagues and employers have also denied the allegations.

The U.S. military has said the five Iranians detained in Iraq in January are suspected of links to a network supplying arms to insurgents — an accusation that Iran has denied.

Iran claimed the men were diplomats and that the building U.S. troops occupied was a government liaison office. It also says the five were the guests of the Iraqi government and has demanded their release. Iraqi government officials have also called for their release, along with compensation for damages.

"We will make the Americans regret their ugly and illegal act," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying. He did not elaborate.

However, Mottaki added that Iran was still willing to continue direct talks with the United States on Iraq, which began first last month in Baghdad and which broke a 27-year diplomatic freeze between the two foes.

Iran's ambassador to Baghdad, Hasan Kazemi Qomi, who represented Iran at the May talks, said the issue of the "freedom of the diplomats" would be on the agenda of future Iran-U.S. talks.

Jamshidi, the judicial spokesman, denied that Iranian lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi was not permitted access to her client, Esfandiari.

Esfandiari's husband, Shaul Bakhash, said the charges against his wife are "baseless," but said he hoped any decision by Iran's judiciary would provide some clarity in the case. The only information Esfandiari's relatives in the Washington area and Iran have comes from vague statements from Iranian government spokesmen.

"After 36 days in solitary confinement, it is about time the judiciary reached a decision in this matter," he said from his home in Potomac, Md. "Any decision to go to trial or to continue making false accusations against my wife would obviously be a miscarriage of justice."

International human rights groups, including the New York-based Human Rights Watch, have expressed deep concern for the health of the detained Americans — especially Esfandiari, who is 67 — held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison.

Jamshidi said Esfandiari was "in complete health" and that she will be dealt with in accordance with the law. Esfandiari's husband, however, said neither her family nor her lawyers had been able to confirm she was in good health.

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry has accused Esfandiari and her organization of trying to set up networks of Iranians with the ultimate goal of creating a "soft revolution" in Iran, along the lines of the revolutions that ended communist rule in Eastern Europe.

Esfandiari had been trapped in Iran since visiting her 93-year-old mother in December, when three masked men with knives stole her luggage and passport as she headed to the airport to leave, the Wilson Center said. In the weeks before her arrest, she was called in for questioning daily, it said.

Iran has escalated accusations against the U.S., saying last week it had uncovered spy rings organized by the U.S. and its Western allies.

[Rasputin]

نازی عظيما خبرنگار راديو فردا می گويد در نظر دارد از روزنامه اعتماد که از قول «منبعی مطلع» اما بدون نام، ادعا کرده که نازی عظيما به «اقدام عليه امنيت ملی» متهم شده است، اعلام جرم کند.

روز پنج شنبه روزنامه اعتماد در نوشته ای تحت عنوان «براندازی رنگين يا خبرنگاری فردا» از قول منبعی مطلع اما بدون، نازی عظيما را متهم به «اقدام عليه امنيت ملی» کرد.

اين در حالی است که بازپرس ويژه معاونت امنيتی دادسرای انقلاب، خانم عظيما را متهم به اتهام سبک تر «تبليغ عليه نظام» کرده است.

همين منبع، راديو فردا را يکی از مراکزی توصيف کرده که هزينه های آن از محل بودجه هفتاد و پنج ميليون دلاری دولت امريکا برای «براندازی نرم نظام جمهوری اسلامی» تامين می شود و افزوده لزوم برخورد قانونی با خانم عطيما، نه به علت همکاری با رسانه ای برون مرزی بلکه به علت فعاليت با راديويی با ويژگی ياد شده است.

اين در حالی است که راديو فردا بيش از پنج سال پيش و مدت ها قبل ار تصويب چنين بودجه ای که در سال گذشته صورت گرفته، کار خود را آغاز کرده است.

من فکر می کنم اين هم بخشی از فشارهای روانی مستقيم و غير مستقيم مقام های مربوطه، برای وادار کردن من به پذيرفتن شرايط آنها باشد

نازی عظیما
نازی عظيما در واکنش به مطلب روزنامه اعتماد می گويد: «من فکر می کنم اين هم بخشی از فشارهای روانی مستقيم و غير مستقيم مقام های مربوطه، برای وادار کردن من به پذيرفتن شرايط آنها باشد».

«انتخاب شغل، يک مساله شخصی است»

در واکنش به ادعای روزنامه که نازی عظيما بر خلاف تعهد قبلی خود با راديو فردا همکاری کرده و به اين دليل گذرنامه وی ضبط شده، خانم عظيما، به آنچه او «تناقض» در سخنان ابراز شده می خواند اشاره می کند و می گويد: «مشخص نيست مطالب ابراز شده بر چه پايه و سند و مدرکی قرار دارد.»

او می گويد: «من هيچگاه چنين تعهدی نداده ام» و می افزايد از نظر وی، «انتخاب شغل من يا ادامه کار من در هر جايی بستگی به تصميم شخصی خودم دارد و زير بار هيچ پيشنهاد و يا ديکته ای نخواهم رفت».

خانم عظيما، چاپ اين مطالب «خلاف واقع» را در روزنامه غير قانونی می خواند و می گويد: «وکيل من و من می خواهيم عليه اين روزنامه اعلام جرم کنيم زيرا اتهام هايی را که در هيچ دادگاهی ثابت نشده و مطرح نشده، به من نسبت داده اند.»

«فعاليت تبليغاتی و مطبوعاتی عليه نازی عظيما»

محمد حسين آقاسی، وکيل نازی عظيما، اتهام هايی را که روزنامه «اعتماد» چاپ تهران عليه موکل وی منتشر کرده تکذيب می کند.

آقای آقاسی به مطالب متناقضی که پيشتر درباره وی نازی عظيما در روزنامه اعتماد چاپ شد و به آنچه او «فعاليت تبليغاتی و مطبوعاتی» عليه نازی عظيما می خواند اشاره می کند.

محمد حسین آقاسی می گوید اتهام خانم عظيما فعلا و احتمالا تا آخر، «تبليغ» عليه نظام است که با «اقدام» عليه نظام تفاوت بسياری دارد او می گويد: « اتهام خانم عظيما فعلا و احتمالا تا آخر، «تبليغ» عليه نظام است که با «اقدام» عليه نظام تفاوت بسياری دارد.»

اقدام عليه امنيت ملی، مجازات سنگين تری دارد و رسيدگی به آن در صلاحيت دادگاه انتقلاب است. اين در حالی است که تبليغ عليه نظام چون ارتباطی با امنيت ندارد، دادگاه های عمومی هم صلاحيت رسيدگی به آن را دارند.

به گفته آقای آقاسی، اتهام خانم عظيما يعنی «تبليغ عليه نظام» که در دادسرای انقلاب مطرح شده، صرفا به علت فعاليت وی در راديو فردا بوده است.

از اين جهت، به گفته وی، مطالب درج شده در روزنامه اعتماد، «با واقعيت فاصله بسيار دارد.»

او می گويد: «در مقررات ما به هيچ وجه کار کردن در يک رسانه شفاهی يا تصويری، جرم شناخته نشده است، حتی اگر اين رسانه با نظام جمهوری اسلامی ضديت داشته باشد يا حتی منبع تامين بودجه آن محلی باشد که مورد علاقه مقام های دولت جمهوری اسلامی نیست.»

به گفته وی، در هيچ يک از مواد قانون مجازات اسلامی، که تنها منبع تعيين جرم و مجازات است، چنين ماده ای وجود ندارد.

آقای آقاسی به موضوع مخالفت وزارت اطلاعات با تحويل دادن پاسپورت خانم عظيما اشاره می کند و می گويد به نظر وی احتمالا، «تا زمانی که مشکلاتی که ريشه ايجاد چنين وضعيتی برای چهار تن از هموطنان است حل نشده، گذرنامه خانم عظيما هم پس داده نمی شود.»

تلاش های بی نتيجه برای بازپس گرفتن گذرنامه

نازی عظيما ، تابعيت دوگانه ايرانی و آمريکايی دارد و ۲۵ ژانويه ۲۰۰۷ ميلادی، پنجم بهمن ماه ۱۳۸۵خورشيدی، به دليل وخامت حال مادر سالمند خود به ايران رفت.

به محض ورود اين خبرنگار به تهران، مقام های مرزی در فرودگاه مهرآباد، گذرنامه وی را ضبط کرده اند. از آن زمان تمامی تلاش های نازی عظيما برای پس گرفتن گذرنامه، بی نتيجه بوده است.

در جريان يکی از ملاقات هايی که خانم عظيما با مقام های رسمی داشته، از وی خواسته شده تا با سرويس اطلاعاتی و امنيتی ايران همکاری کند که اين درخواست از سوی وی رد شده است.

خانم عظيما، خبرنگار راديو فردا که مترجم و ناقد است تا کنون بیش از سی کتاب را نوشته و ترجمه کرده است. از جمله این کتاب ها، پيرمرد و دريا، هفت صدا از آمريکای لاتين، مجموعه داستان های کوتاه نوشته هنری ميلر، تربيت خلاق نويسنده و تحول ادبيات، دفتر پرسش ها ( مجموعه شعر پابلو نرودا)، زير آسمان های جهان و خاطرات الکساندر دوبچک است.

خانم عظيما، مشابه وضعيت کنونی را در بهار سال ۲۰۰۶ ميلادی داشته و در آن سال هم، پس از سفر به ايران، مقامات ايرانی گذرنامه وی را ضبط کردند و به مدت چند هفته و پيش از آنکه گذرنامه را به وی برگردانند، اجازه ندادند که اين روزنامه نگار از ايران خارج شود.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

PARIS, June 20, 2007 (AFP) - An Iranian-French journalism student is being prevented from leaving Iran after spending a month in jail for interviewing opposition members, Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday.

Mehrnoushe Solouki has been under de facto house arrest in Tehran since March when she was freed from Tehran's Evin prison where she was interrogated and confined to a cell with a permanently-lit neon light, the group said.

Solouki, a doctoral student in Montreal, Canada, had obtained permission from Iranian authorities to produce a documentary film on the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq war, said Ajar Smouni, a spokeswoman for Reporters Without Borders.

But she was arrested on February 17 after interviewing family members of the opposition People's Mujahedeen who said they had been victims of repression, Smouni said.

Solouki, 38, who holds Iranian and French citizenship, was freed on March 19 after posting bail of 80,000 euros (107,000 dollars) and has since been under house arrest in Tehran.

Iranian authorities confiscated her notes and film footage and have since called her in for questioning, according to her lawyer in France, William Bourdon, who said they have threatened to jail her again unless she cooperates.

The lawyer said Solouki had been given her French passport back, but that authorities were refusing to let her leave.

"This is a very worrying situation," said Bourdon, who has raised her plight with Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

The foreign ministry said it was in contact with Tehran about Solouki's case, with spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei saying that "we obviously hope that the situation can be resolved and that she will be able to have full freedom of movement."

[Rasputin]

Nearly two months has passed since the arrest of our friend and colleague, Ali Shakeri (M, 59). Ali went to Iran to visit his ailing mother who passed away days after seeing him. Ali was using his basic right as stated in the 13th Article of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states:” Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

We who know him are still bewildered as to why he was arrested? He is a man of peace. How could that be a crime? He is a man against hatred. How could that be a crime? He is a man for dialogue. How could that be a crime? We still don’t know. But what we know is that his wife and children are anxious to see him back in their arm safe.

I often talked to him and he was outrageous as to the possibility of someone attacking his country. Although he was a critique of the status queue, yet he did not want to see his nation destroyed.

Let us also not forget the 3 others who are in the same condition. Scholars Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh as well as journalist Parinaz Azima. I am sure their families are as anxious to see them safe as I am. They have been all arrested on “Security related charges.” A label that I still do not understand. Security against whom and for what I ask myself? Is inviting a few guests to a program a crime? And a security related charge at that? I still don’t understand. What crime is it to think differently? I do not know.

I wake up every morning hoping to hear on the radio or read on the Net on good news. But there are none. I say to myself, what can I do to make their families happier but I can’t come up with one. I hope this letter does the job.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

هاله اسفندياري در زندان به ناراحتي پوستي مبتلا شده است

شيرين عبادي، برنده جايزه صلح نوبل و وكيل دادگستري به راديو فردا مي گويد كه هاله اسفندياري، موكل وي، در زندان اوين به ناراحتي پوستي مبتلا شده است. خانم عبادي مي گويد كه متهمان سياسي در سيستم قضايي كنوني حتي در مقايسه با متهمان عادي از هيچ گونه امكاناتي برخوردار نيست.

خانم عبادي، در نامه اي به محمود هاشمي شاهرودي، رييس قوه قضائيه برخورد دوگانه قوه قضائيه با متهمان سياسي و عادي را به شدت مورد انتقاد قرار داده و آزادي فوري موكلش هاله اسفدياري پژوهشگر از زندان و دادن اجازه خروج از ايران به موكل ديگرش نازي عظيما مترجم وخبرنگار راديو فردا را خواستار شده است.

خانم عبادي در گفت وگو با راديو فردا مي گويد: در روزنامه ها خبري درج شده بود درباره مرد راننده اي كه مسافرش را به بيابان هاي اطراف تهران برده و به او تجاوز كرده و پس از اعتراف و اثبات جرم با قرار يك ميليون ريال وثيقه روانه زندان شده است.

وي افزود: من اين را مستند قرار دادم و به آقاي شاهرودي گفتم كه موكلم خانم پرناز عظيما جرمش فقط خواندن خبر از راديو فرداست ولي براي ايشان پانصد ميليون وثيقه صادر شده و تازه هنوز اجازه خروج از كشور به وي نداده اند.

شيرين عبادي با ذكر اين نمونه از رييس قوه قضائيه پرسيده است كه آيا اين شيوه برخورد دخالت سياست در قضاوت نيست؟

شيرين عبادي كه وكالت هاله اسفندياري پژوهشگر را كه بيش از ۴۰ روز است در زندان اوين به سر ميبرد نيز بر عهده دارد اظهار داشت: خانم اسفندياري در زندان به دليل نبودن هواي تازه و گرما به ناراحتي پوستي مبتلا شده است.


خانم اسفندياري در زندان به دليل نبودن هواي تازه و گرما به ناراحتي پوستي مبتلا شده است.

شيرين عبادي

خانم عبادي مي گويد: به موكلش هاله اسفندياري تاكنون اجازه ملاقات با خانوده اش را نداده اند و او هم تاكنون نه تنهاموفق به ملاقات با موكلش نشده، حتي پرونده او را براي قرائت در اختيارش نگذاشته اند.

شيرين عبادي در نامه به رييس قوه قضائيه با ذكر وضعيت دو موكلش پرسيده آيا راننده اي كه در بيابان به زني تجاوز مي كند بايد وضعش بهتر از يك استاد دانشگاه باشد؟ كدام يك از اين دو نفر براي يك اجتماع خطرناك ترند؟

شيرين عبادي مي گويد: هدف او از اين مقايسه روشن ساختن اين نكته است كه متهمان سياسي در سيستم قضايي كنوني حتي در مقايسه با متهمان عادي از هيچ گونه امكاناتي برخوردار نيست.

بازداشت و ممنوع الخروج شدن ايراني -آمريكايي ها

پرناز عظيما خبرنگار راديو فردا كه اواخر ماه ژانويه ۲۰۰۷ ميلادي، براي ملاقات با مادر بيمار خود به ايران رفت به محض ورود فرودگاه مهرآباد، گذرنامه اش ضبط شد. به رقم توديع وثيقه سنگين از سوي نازي عظيما، گذرنامه وي، هنوز به او بازگردانده نشده است.

در جريان يكي از ملاقات هايي كه خانم عظيما براي پس گرفتن گذرنامه اش با مقام هاي رسمي داشته، از وي خواسته شد تا با سرويس اطلاعاتي و امنيتي ايران همكاري كند كه اين درخواست از سوي وي رد شده است.
مقامات قضايي ايران، اتهام خانم عظيما را اقدام عليه امنيت ملي عنوان كرده و براي وي قرار وثيقه ۵۱۰ ميليون توماني صادر كرده اند.

هاله اسفندياري، پژوهشگر مركز تحقيقات وودرو ويلسون، نيز كه تابعيت ايراني - آمريكايي دارد چهل روز پيش از سوي جمهوري اسلامي بازداشت شد.

هاله اسفندياري كه براي ديدار مادر۹۳ ساله اش به ايران سفر كرده بود، به اتهام اقدام عليه امنيت ملي در زندان اوين به سر مي برد.

در مدت ۴۰ روزي كه از زنداني شدن خانم اسفندياري مي گذرد، مقامات قضايي ايران از پذيرفتن وكالت نامه شيرين عبادي براي دفاع از او، خودداري مي كنند.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Iran: Death penalty/Torture: Davoud Abdollahi Moghadam (m)

PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/080/2007
29 June 2007

UA 164/07 Death penalty/Torture

IRAN Davoud Abdollahi Moghadam (m), aged 40, army colonel

Colonel Davoud Abdollahi Moghadam was sentenced to death by a military court in
February 2007, and is now facing execution. The charges against him are
reported to have been politically motivated, and the court proceedings appear
to have fallen short of international fair trial standards.

Davoud Abdollahi Moghadam was detained on or around 26 February 2006 and
reportedly spent 11 months solitary confinement in Tehran's Evin Prison. The
full details of the charges are not known, but they included spying and
"transmitting state secrets to foreign interests". He reportedly "confessed"
after ill-treatment and possibly torture.

He appealed against his sentence, and on around 11 June a higher military
tribunal reportedly upheld the verdict. His case has still to go before the
Supreme Court for a final appeal.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Torture has been used systematically in Iran for many years to extract
information, and "confessions" are sometimes broadcast on television. Torture
is facilitated by laws and procedures governing detention and interrogation
which permit solitary confinement and prevent detainees having access to
lawyers until the process of investigation is completed, and by the existence
of parallel and sometimes informal institutions which run their own detention
centres to which the judiciary has no access.

[Rasputin]

Iran says has new evidence against US-Iranians

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran said on Tuesday it has new evidence linked with national security charges against jailed US-Iranians Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh, and it is continuing to probe their cases.

"Some new evidence has been found and the inspector is examining it. As it is a new investigation it should go on," judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi told reporters.

"This evidence is linked with the previously mentioned charges of acting against internal security."

Prosecutors have accused Esfandiari and Tajbakhsh, who have been detained since May, as well as another US-Iranian, of acting against national security.

Esfandiari, 67, heads the Middle East programme at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars. She was arrested after returning to Iran late last year to visit her ailing 93-year-old mother.

Tajbakhsh had ties with the Open Society Institute of US billionaire George Soros, which is accused by Iran of seeking a "Velvet Revolution" similar to the toppling of communism in Eastern Europe.

The institute said Tajbakhsh, who is an urban planning expert, worked as its "consultant" in Iran during the past three years, while Tehran described him as its "representative".

Jamshidi did not elaborate on the cases of two other US-Iranians -- California-based businessman Ali Shakeri, who is behind bars, and journalist Parnaz Azima.

Azima has been accused of similar charges and is unable to leave the Islamic republic after having had her passport confiscated. But she is not being held in jail.

Iranian Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, who was appointed Esfandiari's lawyer by her family, has complained she had been denied access to her client and that the judiciary refused her request to release the scholar on bail.

The United States has repeatedly demanded that Iran release all the US-Iranian detainees but Tehran -- which does not recognise dual nationality -- has bluntly told Washington the affair is none of its business.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

The violent reaction, when authorities gave only three hours notice that rationing would start at midnight, "could have been worse," but for the pre-emptive crackdown, says Mr. Sadjadpour.

"People sensed that the regime and the basiji [volunteer ideological forces] were really on a head-cracking spree the previous few weeks," says the analyst. "It made people think twice before going out onto the streets to vent their criticism."

Still, images of burning gas stations did little to calm nervous Iranians. "Unfortunately, Mr. Ahmadinejad did not [fulfill] his promises to poor people," says Laylaz. "This social unrest is an immediate and direct consequence of those policies.... And at the moment, the social structure of this country is absolutely fragile and sensitive about economic issues."

But those economic concerns have become tangled with myriad other social and strategic issues in Iran, which blend into a single "security" response from the regime. And the crackdown has had an impact, as Iranians – especially those with ties to Westerners – refuse invitations for cultural exchanges, conferences abroad, or lunch in Tehran where Western diplomats might be present.

Iranians with such ties who have been arrested and even imprisoned, report that their interrogators accused them of "serving the enemy" whether they knew it or not. A final report of BBC correspondent Frances Harrison last week, leaving after three years in Tehran, shows the scale of change.While numerous officials had attended the going-away lunch of her predecessor, not one – not even those from the Islamic Guidance ministry, who are often helpful on a personal level – came to her BBC farewell lunch."I did not take it personally," wrote Ms. Harrison. "The atmosphere is now one where Iranians are afraid to mix with foreigners for fear of being accused of spying."

Fahri says that what the regime wants to do is "break the kind of linkages that were created during the [former President Hashemi] Rafsanjani and Khatami period, because all these activities that people are being accused of were legitimate, and in fact promoted under previous administrations."

That is the result of a new Machiavellian calculation, says Sadjadpour: "Whereas Khatami and the reformists said our best security is people's happiness, [this hard-line] worldview is that it is much better to be feared than to be loved.

"Their behavior is much more out of desperation than of strength," he adds. "It doesn't show that you are very confident about your place as a regime, when 67-year-old women are being suspected of undermining Iran's national security."