Pressure against human rights defenders continues

Late September 2013, Branch54 of the Appeals Court upheld a sentence of six years’ imprisonment earlierimposed on Mr. Mohammad Seifzadeh on February 20, 2013 by Branch 15 ofthe Islamic Revolution Court on charges of “collusion to take action againstthe national security” and “spreading propaganda against the system”.

The February 20 sentencecame shortly before he was due to be released on March 25, 2013 at the end of atwo-year sentence he was serving for similar charges. The new charges are basedon a letter he had written to former President Khatami on July 21, 2011 as wellas other letters he had co-signed with other persons. In the July 2011 letter,he mentioned the widespread breach of the law in the judiciary and stated thatthere was no solution but to dissolve illegal authorities such as the IslamicRevolution Courts and the Special Clergy Court and to reform the structure ofthe judiciary. Furthermore, he said due process and citizen rights had not beenrespected in the case of about 200 political prisoners in Section 350 of Evinprison, where he was being held at the time.

In protest against theillegality and bias of the Islamic Revolution Court, Mr. Seifzadeh refused toattend the trial that resulted in the first instance sentence in question.Although he had similar concerns about the integrity of the Appeals Court, heattended its session out of respect for his family's opinion.

The current state of hishealth is worrisome, especially given the conditions of his detention since hisillegal transfer in late December 2012 to the remote Rajaishahr prison near thecity of Karaj even though his sentence does not include “imprisonment ininternal exile”[1].He is in dire need of eye surgery, dental treatment and care for his knees,neck and back disc. He is also suffering from kidney trouble for which he wastransferred to a hospital outside the prison for treatment in February 2013.Furthermore, he is suffering from heart ailment for which he has reportedlybeen transferred to hospital on October 15, 2013.

The sentencing in appeal ofMs. Massoumeh Dehghan, the wife of detainedlawyer and also a founding member of DHRC Abdolfattah Soltani, to one-year of suspendedimprisonment is another case for concern. The appeals court issued its verdicton March 10, 2013 but it had not been publicised earlier[2].

The Observatory urges the Iranian authorities toimmediately and unconditionally release Mr. Mohammad Seifzadeh as well as allhuman rights defenders presently detained in the country, to put an end to anykind of harassment against them and to guarantee in all circumstances theirphysical and psychological integrity, in line with the United NationsDeclaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration of HumanRights and international human rights instruments ratified by Iran.

[1]Although‘imprisonment in internal exile’ does not exist in the law, some prisoners aresentenced to it.

[2] For more details, see ObservatorsPress Release, November 20, 2012.