Iranian Human Rights Activist Sentenced: Kouhyar Goudarzi
On 7 March 2012, Kouhyar Gourdazi was informed that he has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, to be served in Zabol, a city in Sistan-Baluchestan Province, eastern Iran. On 2 January 2012 he appeared before Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, but this session was postponed on Kouhyar Goudarzi’s request as his lawyer was not present. During a subsequent hearing before the same court, he was charged with “spreading propaganda against the system” and “gathering and colluding against national security”. The court insisted that Kouhyar Goudarzi had links with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) - a banned Iranian opposition group with a base in Iraq - and that he had previously been arrested for "gathering in front of the United Nations Office and advocating for the removal of the PMOI from the list of terrorist organizations". The CHRR stated that this was not true and that he had never been arrested for this reason.
On 18 March 2012, Parvin Mokhtare, Kouhyar Goudarzi's mother, was released from Kerman Prison, in the south-eastern province Kerman after the Appeal Court suspended her 23-month prison sentence. She had been arrested on 1 August 2011, one day after her son’s arrest, and was tried before the Revolutionary Court in Kerman, on 6 September 2011, on charges of “spreading propaganda against the system”, and “acting against national security”, said to relate to her advocacy for her son. In December 2011 she was sentenced to 23 months’ imprisonment without having any access to a defence lawyer. She was told by the security officials that she had “no need of a lawyer or defence team”. In mid-March 2012, she was also tried before the General Court in Kerman on charges of “insulting the Supreme Leader” and “insulting the martyrs”. She was acquitted of the first charge, but was sentenced to pay a fine after conviction of the second.
Many thanks to all those who sent appeals. Amnesty International will continue to campaign forKouhyar Goudarzi’s immediate and unconditional release, as well as monitor ing the situation of other CHRR members , but no further action is requested from the Urgent Action network.
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the eleventh update of UA 347/09. Further information: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/087/2011/en
URGENT ACTION
IRANIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST SENTENCED
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Committee for Human Rights Reporters (CHRR) was founded in 2006 and campaigns against all kinds of human rights violations, including those against women, children, prisoners and workers. It is banned by the Iranian authorities and its members have continued to face intense harassment and prosecution since the disputed presidential election in June 2009.
Kouhyar Goudarzi, a member of the CHRR, was released from prison in December 2010 after serving a one-year prison sentence for “spreading propaganda against the system” and other charges in breach of his rights to freedom of expression and association. An appeal was rejected in October 2010. Kouhyar Goudarzi was arrested again on 31 July 2011 by men believed to be from the Ministry of Intelligence. Neither his family nor his lawyer were able to find any information on his whereabouts or obtain official confirmation of his arrest for about three months after his arrest. .
Following his arrest Kouhyar Goudarzi, was reportedly taken to section 240 of Evin Prison in Tehran. He was later transferred to section 209 of Evin Prison, where he was held in solitary confinement until the end of 2011. It is believed that during this time Kouhyar Goudarzi went on a hunger strike for 17 days in protest against his mother’s arrest and the increasing pressures on him but ended his hunger strike as his health deteriorated. On 30 November 2011, after nearly four months in solitary confinement, he was informed that he was accused of “spreading propaganda against the system by giving an interview to Der Spiegel magazine" and "gathering and colluding with intent to harm state security through membership in the Committee of Human Rights Reporters”.
Several other CHRR members are also facing imprisonment or have fled the country for their own safety.
On 9 January 2011, CHRR member, journalist and human rights activist Shiva Nazar Ahari, had a four-year prison sentence upheld on appeal. A further two-year prison sentence for “gathering and colluding with intent to harm state security” was overturned. She is now at liberty awaiting a summons to start serving this final sentence. Saeed Ha’eri has also received a two-year prison sentence, which was upheld by an appeal court.
Navid Khanjani, a member of both the CHRR and the Association to Oppose Discrimination in Education (AODE), was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment on 31 January 2011. His sentence was upheld by the Appeal Court and confirmed by Branch 54.of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on 10 August 2011 and his lawyer was informed 14 days later. He remains free, awaiting a summons to start serving his sentence.
Navid Khanjani was arrested in Esfahan, central Iran, on 2 March 2010. He faced an unfair trial on 20 December 2010 in Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. He was apparently sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in connection with his work with the AODE; and five for his work with the CHRR. An additional three years were said to have been handed down for “creating unease in the public mind”, and “propaganda against the system”. Navid Khanjani was eventually sentenced to 12 years imprisonment after the court supposedly applied "Islamic mercy".
Name: Kouhyar Goudarzi, Parvin Mokhtare
Gender m/f: Kouhyar Goudarzi (m), Parvin Mokhtare (f)
Further information on UA: 347/09 Index: MDE 13/016/2012 Issue Date: 19 March 2012