Weekly Rights Podcast 31

In this week’s Weekly Rights Podcast: seven political prisoners from Evin Prison’s Ward 350 were allowed a short furlough to observe a religious holiday; the sister of Fatemeh Rahnama spoke with the Campaign about Rahnama’s conditions in prison; judiciary officials have maintained their silence about group executions carried out in prisons throughout Iran; Iranian member of parliament Nayereh Akhavan makes public statements supporting public executions; photojournalist Maryam Majd was released on bail until her court date after spending nearly a month in prison; the Right to Education Council released a statement denouncing the arrest of students and bans on continuing or beginning higher education; a member of parliament in the UK, Roger Gale, called upon the United States to protect Iranian citizens in Camp Ashraf, Iraq.

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Seven Political Prisoners Given Short Furlough; Hundreds More Remain in Prison

Seven prisoners in Evin Prison’s Ward 350 were allowed short furlough on 16 July on for the observance of a religious holiday. The prisoners were: Bahareh Hedayat; Mahdieh Golroo; Behzad Nabavi; Mohsen Mirdamadi; Feizollah Arabsorkhi; Abdollah Ramezanzadeh; Javad Emam; and Massoud Lavasani. No other political prisoners were allowed furlough from Rajaee Shahr Prison or prisons in other cities, however. Presently hundreds of political prisoners are inside Evin Prison.

Mass Arrests and Detentions Signal Increasing Repression

(17 June 2009) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today that several dozen notable figures including Saeed Hajjarian, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Behzad Nabavi, and Abdolfattah Soltani were arrested on 16 June 2009. Hajjarian was an advisor to former president Mohammad Khatami and Abtahi was director of Khatami’s office during his presidency and is now a senior adviser to Mehdi Karroubi. Nabavi is a former member of parliament and Minister of Industry and Mining. Soltani is a leading human rights lawyer and member of the Defenders of Human Rights Center.

The detainees include numerous political figures, intellectuals, civil leaders, human rights activists, and journalists, as well as a large but unknown number of ordinary citizens.