Monthly Report of Association for the Defence of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners
in Iran - November 2008
The Iranian government has increased pressure on Azerbaijani ethnic and student activists in recent months. Activists are detained without charge, tried and are not allowed access to lawyers. They are not allowed to meet their family and are subjected to torture and ill- treatment.
Situation of Detained Activist in Tehran and Karaj
Hashem Berzgeri, a law student at Tehran’s Peyame Noor University, was arrested by Karaj security forces on November 9, 2008. He was released on bail after 21 days in detention at Evin Prison on November 30. Following his detention, he was placed in solitary confinement in section 209 of Evin Prison, which is run by the Iranian intelligence service. He was only transferred to the general section of the prison two days before his release. Bezgeri was under physical and psychological duress during the time he was detained. He was not allowed to contact his family and denied access to a lawyer. When Berzgeri’s family asked the courts and the police why he had been arrested or where he was being held, they were given no information. On November 17, Berzgeri’s wife Sevil Esedollahi was told by security forces in a threatening telephone call not to give any information about her husband to the media.
As in previous years, security forces responded to the annual celebration of Sattar Khan, an Azerbaijani-Iranian hero during the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 with unnecessary force. On the evening of November 13, 2008, more than 10 of the participants were arrested in Tehran during the ceremony. Some were released hours later after being interrogated. Security forces have withheld the cellphones and identity cards of those detained.
Abdullah Abbasi Javan, a professor at Tehran’s Shahid Rajaei University and his nephew, Huseyin Huseyni (Husein Huseini), were among those detained during the ceremony and are still in prison. Even though they have been detained for more than three weeks, they haven’t been allowed any contact with their family, who say their appeals to Evin Prison and Tehran Enghelab Eslami Court have gone unanswered. Authorities initially denied that Javan and Huseyni were even detained, but on November 23 the families were informed during a short telephone call that the two are being held in section 209 of Evin Prison, which is controlled by the Iranian intelligence service. Authorities have so far not stated any reason for their detention. ADAPP’s observations of similar cases suggest that the two are at the risk of torture and other ill treatment while detained in that section of the prison.
This is not Javan’s first time in the intelligence section of Evin Prison. Last year, he was arrested and detained for 130 days, during which time he was subjected to physical and psychological torture. He was sentenced to one year of suspended imprisonment. His nephew Huseyni has also detained and tortured by security forces in the past. He was held in Neghede (Sulduz) and Erdebil Intelligence Service for one month in June of this year and was released on bail of 100 million rials (around $100,000).
Sirus Huseynejad, a microbiology student at Tehran’s Azad University, is another detainee from the Sattar Khan Remembrance Day ceremony. He was released on bail on November 23, but has not been told why he was detained or when he will be tried. Huseynejad says he was treated badly by security forces in prison. Last year, he was jailed in Evin Prison for 40 days for participating in a peaceful demonstration against a cartoon published in a state-run newspaper that most Azerbaijanis found offensive. He has also been suspended from university for one semester.
Firuz Yusefi, an English literature student at Tehran’s Peyame Noor Univesity and an Iranian army officer, was also detained after the Sattar Khan Remembrance Day ceremony was released on bail of 50 million rilas (about $50,000) after 24 days of detention on December 8. He was taken to section 209 of Evin Prison after detention. His mother and brother were allowed to visit him on November 24 after waiting outside the prison for five hours. He resorted to a hunger strike in order to protest the duress during the detention. He has not been allowed access to a lawyer and was charged with “move to collapse Islamic regime in Iran”.
Detentions in Tabriz
Journalist and women’s rights activist Shahnaz Gholami was arrested at her home in Tabriz on November 9 after authorities searched her home. She was transferred to Tabriz Prison from Tabriz Intelligence Service custody on November 15. Authorities have told her family where she is imprisoned, but not why she was detained. Gholami is the moderator of a blog for Azerbaijani-Iranian women, azarwomen.
She was sentenced to six months imprisonment on charges of “propaganda against the regime.” She was released on bail and is now waiting for a hearing by an appeal court. Last year she was detained a month for writing articles objecting to the use of force by the government during peaceful Azerbaijani-Iranian protests. Gholami also was in prison for five years late ’80s as a result of her political activities.
Jamshid Zarei, a Tabriz-based Azerbaijani cultural activist, was arrested on November 18 in his workplace by security forces. He was released on bail of 20 million rials (about $20,000) after nine days in detention. He was detained by agents of the Tabriz Intelligence Service under physical and psychological duress and was not allowed access to a lawyer. Zarei was also detained for three months in March 2008, before the Azerbaijanis’ annual peaceful demonstration in May. He has recently been sentenced to six months imprisonment.
Mohammad Reza Lavayi, a prominent Azerbaijani poet, writer and journalist was arrested on November 21 in Khoja (a town near Tabriz) by security forces. His family has not been told where he is being held and the police and the courts have not acknowledged that he has been detained. Lavayi’s family fears for his health, as he has serious heart problems. Lavayi was threatened by Tabriz Intelligence Service during the funeral ceremony of three Azerbaijani activists in Tabriz some days before his detention.
Served Punishments
Saber Beytollahi and Bahman Nasirzade, Azerbaijani ethnic rights activists in Maku (located in West Azerbaijan Province) were sentenced to one year of imprisonment by Khoy Islamic Revolutionary Court. The trial was not open to the public and took place on October 5, 2008. Reportedly; they are charged with “membership in GAMOH (South Azerbaijan National Awakening Movement), and propaganda for groups which are against the regime, distributing articles in Maku, Pan-Turkist and separatist activities, and also move to collapse Islamic regime in Iran.”
Saber Beytollahi was also held for six months in 2004 and 2006 in Maku prison and intelligence service custody.
Sefer Ali Khoini, an Azerbaijani ethnic rights activist in Ebher (located in Zenjan Province), has been sentenced to six months imprisonment by the Zanjan Islamic Revolutionary Court; the sentence is suspended for two years. He is the editor-in-chief of the Shahriyar Student Journal, published at Zanjan Azad University. He was arrested at the Mother Tongue Day ceremonies in February 2007 along with other Azerbaijani ethnic rights activists and was held for 18 days in intelligence service custody. He was released on bail. The court has served him punishment but this has been done orally and he has not been given any written verdict. The court denied giving verdict and he has been told by court that we will not give you the verdict to publish it in the internet or use it to apply for refugee status.
Situation of other Azerbaijani Activists
Dariush Hatemi, an Azerbaijani ethnic rights activist who is completing his military service, was released on 50 million rials (about $50,000) bail in late November. He was detained with eight other student activists on July 17, 2008. He is charged with “establishing and membership in illegal groups in order to disrupt national security” and “propaganda against the regime.” His trial will begin on January 18, 2009.
The trial of Hamid Valayi, lawyer, which was to take place on December 1 in the Tabriz Revolutionary Court has been postponed by the trial judge, although Hamid Valayi and his advocate were present at the appointed time. He is to be charged with “propaganda against regime.” Valayi was arrested on July 15, 2008 and was subjected to torture and other ill treatment. His teeth were broken and his right leg and head were injured.
Valayi’s application for admittance to the East Azerbaijan Province Lawyers’ Council was declined by the Tabriz Intelligence Service. Recently he has written a letter to the council demanding his rights as a lawyer.
The trial of Ardashir Karimi Khiyavi, editor-in-chief of the Khazar student journal, journalist Rahim Gholami and Azerbaijani ethnic rights activist Vadud Saadeti took place on November 26 in Ardebil. Before the trial, the chairman of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Ardebil demanded to know why the activists’ lawyer had accepted their defense and ordered him detained, but released him when he agreed not to defend the activists.
Azerbaijani women’s rights activist Faranek Ferid was ordered to report to the intelligence service on November 25, 2008. She was prevented from participating in a women rights conference in Turkey to which she had been invited to give a speech.
High-school student Ebrahim Noori gave the last defense at his trial on November 3, 2008. According to human rights activists, he was arrested because of his defense of Azerbaijanis’ ethnic rights. He was recently dismissed from the school for three days because of his activities.
The education system in Iran is only in Persian. In recent years, the demand for education in other languages including Azerbaijani Turkish, Arabic and Kurdish has grown.
Hamid Rostemi (Arghis), an Azerbaijani writer who was serving one year in Khoy prison has been released conditionally after serving half of the sentence. He was sentenced to two years of exile to Bijar and barred from publishing books for three years. His two years of exile has reportedly been canceled by the Iranian high court. Rostemi was detained after the Mother Tongue Day demonstrations on February 21, 2006 in Azerbaijani-Iranian cities.
Ehli-Haq Prisoners of Conscience Serving their 13 Years of Imprisonment with Exile
Sehendeli Mehemmedi, Bakhsali Mehemmedi and Abdullah Qasimzade are three Ehli-Haq faith in Urmia prison who were taken to Yazd, a city in the central part of Iran, on November 17 to serve their 13 years of imprisonment with exile. They were detained along with two other Ehli-Haq faith prisoners in 2005 and charged with “publishing blasphemy”, “carrying weapons and using them”, and “insulting supreme leader” and were sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment with exile in 2006.
Two other prisoners, Mehdi Qasimzade and Yunus Aghayan are sentenced to death and are in prison. They have been on a hunger strike for 55 days, which has damaged their health.
