Caselist - PEN International

80Mohammad Sadiq KABUDVAND:Profession: Editor of the journal Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdistan andKurdish rights activist. Date of arrest: 1 July 2007. Sentence: 11 yearsin prison. Expires: 30 June 2018 Details of arrest: Reportedly arrested athis place of work in Tehran by plain-clothed security officers. Followinghis arrest, he was first taken to his house where three computers, books,photographs, family films and personal documents were confiscated. Hespent the first five months of his detention in solitary confinement. Hisfamily was unable to raise the bail that could have enabled him to befreed pending trial. Details of trial: Kabudvand’s trial began on 25 May2008, and he was sentenced at a closed court on 22 June 2008 to elevenyears in prison by the Tehran Revolutionary Court for forming a humanrights organisation in Iran’s Kurdish region. The sentence was upheldon 23 October 2008 by the Teheran Appeal Court. Place of detention:Intelligence Ministry’s Section 209 of Evin Prison. Treatment in prison:Held incommunicado and said to be ill-treated. Health concerns: Suffersfrom high blood pressure, skin and kidney conditions. On 19 May 2008Kabudvand reportedly suffered a stroke in Evin prison and has been deniedaccess to adequate medical care. Said to have suffered another stroke inDecember 2008. In December 2010 he was said to be in a critical conditionand to be denied the specialist medical treatment he needs. In June 2011Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand was seen by an independent doctor whoreportedly stated that he needed to undergo two operations for hardeningof the heart arteries and an enlarged prostate. Since his imprisonmentMohammad Sadiq Kabudvand has lost about 20 kgs. Previous politicaldetention: Among several prominent Kurdish human rights defenders andjournalists to be detained on 2 August 2005 following protests in the cityof Sanandaj, capital of Kurdistan. Kabudvand was reportedly sentencedto 10 months in prison on 18 August 2005 for “separatist propaganda”.Reportedly held in solitary confinement for 66 days before being freedon bail. For reasons unclear to PEN, Kabudvand was summoned by theOffice for the Execution of Sentences on 22 September 2006, and orderedto serve out the remainder of his sentence. Released in April 2007. (RAN30/07 -18 July 2007; Update #1 -15 November 2007; Update #2 – 4 June2008). Professional details: Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand was Chairof the Kurdish Human Rights Organization (RMMK) based in Tehran,and former editor of Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdestan (Kurdistan People’sMessage) a weekly published in Kurdish and Persian, which was bannedon 27 June 2004 after only 13 issues for ‘disseminating separatist ideasand publishing false reports’. He has also reportedly written two bookson democracy and a third on the women’s movement in Iran, which werenot given publishing licences. Other information: Recipient of the2009 Hellmann/Hammett prize and the 2009 International Journalistsaward. Honorary member of: Swedish PEN. (RAN 30/07 – 18 July2007; Update #2 – 4 June 2008; Update #3 – 2 July 2008; Update #4 – 4November 2008).Saeed LAILAZ (LAYLAZ)Profession: Editor of the now-banned daily business journal Sarmayehand a vocal critic of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s economic policy.Date of arrest: 17 June 2009 Sentence: Nine years in prison. Expires:16 June 2018 Details of arrest: Reportedly arrested at his home inTehran on 17 June 2009. Details of trial: Among 140 opposition figuresand journalists who faced a mass, televised trial on 1 August 2009 onvague anti-state accusations for their alleged participation in protests followingthe disputed presidential elections of 12 June 2009. Sentencedon 18 November 2009 on charges of ‘congregation and mutiny againstnational security’, ‘propagation against the regime’, ‘disrupting publicorder’, and ‘keeping classified documents’. Most of the evidence againsthim reportedly related to articles published in Sarmayeh, and an investigationinto the Iranian judiciary published online. Place of detention:Evin prison. Treatment in prison: Reportedly held for three months insolitary confinement and denied reading and writing materials.Mehdi MAHMOUDIANProfession: Freelance journalist and blogger. Date of arrest: 16 September2009. Sentence: Five years in prison Expires: 15 September 2014Details of arrest: Reportedly arrested on 16 September 2009 after he hadmade statements to foreign media about the disputed 2009 presidentialelection results. Details of trial: Convicted in 2010 of ‘mutiny againstthe regime’ for his role in documenting the alleged rape and abuse ofdetainees at the now-closed Kahrizah Detention Centre in 2009. Placeof detention: Held at the notorious Rajaee Shah prison in Karaj, westof Tehran, known for housing many violent criminals who abuse drugsand transmit diseases. [Reported to have been transferred to Ward 2-A ofEvin prison on 6 January 2012 for unknown reasons, and to have beenseverely beatne in the process.] Treatment in prison: In September 2010Mahmoudian reportedly sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader AyatollahKhamenei, detailing alleged torture and ill-treatment at the prison andhighlighting drug abuse and sexual abuse amongst prison inmates andother forms of degrading treatment. After the letter’s publication, Mahmoudianwas reportedly sent to solitary confinement and banned fromhaving visitors for three months. Health concerns: Since 2010 his healthis said to have sharply deteriorated and he has developed epilepsy andsuffered collapsed lungs and heart disease. His health is reported to haveworsened since late May 2011, following a dry hunger strike to protesthis treatment in prison. Other information: Member of the Committeefor the Defence of Freedom of the Press and of the ‘Association for theDefence of Political Prisoners and Human Rights in Iran’.Hossein Ronaghi MALEKID.o.b.: 1985 Profession: Blogger. Date of arrest: 13 December 2009Sentence: 15 years in prison Expires: 12 December 2024 Details of arrest:Arrested for discussing politics in a series of critical blogs whichwere blocked by the government. Founder of an anticensorship groupknown as ‘Iran Proxy’, launched in 2003. Held in pre-trial detentionin solitary confinement for 10 months after his arrest. Details of trial:Sentenced on charges of ‘membership of the Internet group ‘Iran Proxy’and propagating against the regime’, ‘insulting the Supreme Leader’ and‘insulting the President’. An appeals court upheld his sentence. Place ofdetention: Evin prison, Tehran. Health concerns: Has developed kidneydisease whilst in prison and has been suffering from related complicationssince April 2010. He was hospitalised in March and underwent akidney transplant in May 2011. He was returned to prison within 14 daysof the operation, and requests for medical leave have been denied. Said tohave been transferred again to hospital in July 2011, and concerns for hishealth are mounting. Treatment in prison: Denied access to his family.Said MATINPOURProfession: Journalist with the Azeri-language weekly Yarpagh. Date ofarrest: 28 May 2007 Sentence: Eight years in prison. Expires: 27 August2014 Details of arrest: Reportedly arrested on 28 May 2007 at his homein the northwestern city of Zanjan. Reportedly held incommunicadoin pre-trial detention in section 209 of Evin prison, without access tofamily visits, until 26 February 2008 because his family was unable toraise the bail sum. Released on bail, but reportedly taken into detentionagain on 11 July 2009 to serve the remainder of his sentence. Details oftrial: Convicted by a Tehran revolutionary court behind closed doors on11 June 2008 on charges of ‘maintaining relations with foreigners’ and‘publicity against the Islamic Republic’. His lawyer was not present atthe hearing. His sentence was upheld on appeal in June 2008. Healthconcerns: Said to suffer from digestive and back problems as a resultof ill-treatment in prison. Calls for him to be granted temporary leave toseek medical care have been denied for the past two years.Morteza MORADPOURProfession: Wrote for Yazligh, a children’s magazine. Date of arrest:22 May 2009 Sentence: Three years in prison. Expires: 21 May 2012Details of arrest: Moradpour was arrested in 2009 along with severalfamily members during a protest over Azeri-language rights in Tabriz innorthwestern Azerbaijan province. Details of trial: Reportedly convictedon charges of ‘propagating against the Islamic Republic of Iran’, ‘mutiny’,and ‘illegal congregation’. Two issues of Yazligh were reportedly used asevidence in the trial against him. An appeals court in Azerbaijan provinceupheld the sentence. Moradpour’s attorney said the charges were politicallymotivated and fabricated.Mohammad Reza NOURBAKHSHProfession: Editor-in-chief of the reformist newspaper Farhikhtegan. Alsoeditor of Jomhuriyat, a news Web site supportive of the defeated presidentialcandidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Date of arrest: 4 August 2009 Sentence:Six years in prison, reduced to three years on appeal. Expires: 3 August2012 Details of arrest: Authorities reportedly took Nourbakhsh intocustody after searching his home. Details of trial: Nourbakhsh was amongmore than 100 opposition figures and journalists who faced a mass, televisedtrial which began in early August 2009 on vague anti-state accusations. Hewas sentenced to six years in prison on 3 November 2009 although the exactcharges against him were not immediately disclosed. Sentence reduced tothree years on appeal.*Isa SAHARKHIZD.o.b.: 1955 Profession: Prominent reformist journalist and commentator.Former press director at Ministry of Guidance and Islamic Culture. Dateof arrest: 7 July 2009 Sentence: 3 years in prison, with an additionaltwo years added in August 2011. Expires: 6 July 2014 Details of arrest:Arrested for his journalistic activities during the unrest following thedisputed presidential elections of 2009. He has said that his ribs werebroken as a result of beatings sustained during his arrest on 7 July 2009.Details of trial: Sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in September2010 on charges of “insulting the leadership” and “propaganda againstthe system” and ‘spreading lies through interviews with foreign media’.He has also been banned from journalistic and political activities forfive years and is forbidden to travel abroad for one year. An additionaltwo years were added to his sentence in August 2011 allegedly for hisprevious journalistic activities. Health concerns: He has lost mobility ofhis right leg for unknown reasons but has been denied medical leave toseek treatment. In late November/early December 2010 he was reportedto have been suffering from severe pain. It was discovered that he wasbleeding internally and a medical team was brought to perform surgeryon him in the prison clinic. In June 2011 Isa Saharkhiz was among severalprisoners who went on a hunger strike to protest against the deaths ofHaleh Sahabi and Hoda Saber. He was transferred to the Raja’i ShahrPrison clinic on 27 June 2011 due to his deteriorating health. Treatmentin prison: Isa Saharkhiz has endured much stress in prison caused byill-treatment from prison and judicial officials. In July 2011 Saharkhizwrote a letter to the new United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur forIran, Ahmad Shaheed, urging him to visit Iranian prisons and adding that“what is now going on in Iranian prisons is a crime against humanity andis just as bad as Stalin’s inhumane forced labour camps in Siberia.” Thefull text of the English translation can be read here. Other information:In May 2010, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention foundIsa Saharkhiz’s detention to be arbitrary and requested that the IranianGovernment release Isa Saharkhiz immediately and unconditionally.Place of detention: Raja’i Shahr Prison, notorious for its inhumaneconditions.Keyvan SAMIMI-BEHBEHANID.o.b.: 1945 Profession: Editor of the banned Nameh magazine andhuman rights defender. Date of arrest: 14 June 2009 Sentence: Six yearsimprisonment and fifteen years of deprivation of political, social andcultural activities. Expires: 13 June 2015 Details of arrest: Reportedlyarrested at his home in the unrest following the disputed presidentialelections of 2009. Details of trial: Reportedly sentenced to six yearsimprisonment and fifteen years of deprivation of political activities on 2February 2010 on charges of ‘Propaganda against the system, congregatingand conspiracy to undermine the national security’. Reportedly granted10 days’ leave from prison on 9 December 2009 in order to attend hisdaughter’s wedding. He has since returned to prison. Place of detention:Rajaieshahr prison Treatment in prison: Said to have been ill-treatedin detention. Health concerns: Said to be suffering from a risky liverailment, although prison authorities are refusing to take him to hospital.Other information: He is a member of the National Council for Peaceand the Committee for the Defense of Freedom in the Press, member ofthe Committee for Investigation of Arbitrary Detentions and member ofthe Committee for the Defence of the Right to Education.Hengameh SHAHIDI(f)Profession: Journalist and opposition activist. Worked for MehdiKarroubi’s 2009 presidential campaign and has written about Iranianand international politics, human rights, and specifically women’srights. She was known as a reformist journalist who had written manyarticles condemning the practice of stoning. Date of arrest: early July2009 Sentence: 6 years in prison Expires: July 2015 Details of arrest:Reportedly arrested in early July 2009 and held for 50 days in solitaryconfinement at Section 209 of Evin prison, which is controlled by theMinistry of Intelligence, where she was reportedly subjected to tortureand ill-treatment. Her lawyer said she had been facing pressure to admit to“immoral relations” with men. Reportedly charged with several antistatecounts, including “propagating against the regime”. Details of trial: InNovember 2009, a Revolutionary Court sentenced her to six years andthree months in prison. On appeal, on 24 February 2010, the verdict wasupheld and a fine of 500,000 rials (approx. 46,000 US$) was imposed.Shahidi was taken into custody the next day. Place of detention: Evinprison, Tehran. Health concerns: In May 2010 Shahidi reportedly spentseveral days at Evin Prison’s infirmary after a fellow prisoner beat her asprison authorities stood by. Shahidi was briefly released on bail so shecould have medical care, but she was taken back into custody in mid-November 2010 before her treatment was completed.*Mashallah SHAMSOLVAEZINProfession: Prominent Iranian journalist. Editor of many of Iran’s firstindependent newspapers, including Jame’eh, Neshat, and Asr-e Azadegan, 81