Iran: Environmentalists Languish in Jail
Arbitrary Detention, No Clear Charges or Due Process
ایران: فعالان محیط زیست همچنان در زندان
بازداشت خودسرانه، بدون اتهام مشخص یا دادرسی عادلانه
October 11, 2018
(Beirut) – Eight
environmental activists arbitrarily detained in Iran in January and February 2018 remains in
detention eight months later without clear charges, Human Rights Watch said
today. Iranian authorities should either immediately release them or charge
them with recognizable crimes and produce evidence to justify their continued
detention.
On September 30,
family members said on social media that judicial authorities had told them
that the detained environmentalists can only be represented by lawyers from a
pre-approved list of 20 that the judiciary had
published in June. The
authorities have not allowed the detained environmentalist’s access to lawyers
of their choice or set a trial date.
“Iran’s judiciary
is again highlighting its role as key functionaries in repressive state
machinery rather than defenders of justice,” said Sarah Leah
Whitson, Middle East
director at Human Rights Watch. “Even though the environmentalists have spent
eight months in pretrial detention, the authorities have still not come up with
a criminal charge against them.”
On January 24 and
25, the Revolutionary Guards intelligence organization arrested Houman Jokar,
Sepideh Kashani, Niloufar Bayani, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Sam Rajabi, Taher
Ghadirian, Kavous Seyed Emami, and Morad Tahbaz, all members of a local
environmental group, the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation. On February 13, Abbas Jafaridolatabadi, the
prosecutor of Tehran, told reporters that detained activists are accused of using environmental projects as a cover to collect classified
strategic information.
KAYHAN JAMME
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