Over 150 UN Former Staff and Civil Society Activists Call for Release of Baquer and Siamak Namazi

Over 150 former employees of the United Nations, UNICEF, academics, and members of civil society expressed renewed concern on Tuesday, October 13, regarding the situation of Baquer and Siamak Namazi in Iran and called for their immediate release.

The activists’ letter of request was released on the fifth anniversary of Siamak Namazi’s imprisonment.

Siamak Namazi, a 49-year-old Iranian-American businessman, was arrested and imprisoned on October 13, 2016, on charges of “cooperation with the U.S. government.” His 84-year-old father, Baquer Namazi, who went to Iran to help secure his son’s release, was arrested one year later.

Baquer Namazi was the governor of Khuzestan before the February 1979 revolution and is a retired senior member of UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund).

The Revolutionary Court sentenced each of the two men to 10 years in prison.

Baquer Namazi has been on medical leave since last year due to his deteriorating health condition, but is barred from leaving the country.

Source: Radio Farda