Final Court Session Held for Two Imprisoned Environmental Activists

In recent days, the final court session for two imprisoned environmental activists was held at the Tehran Revolutionary Court, and it is reported that a verdict for these individuals will be issued soon.

According to news published on social media, on Tuesday, October 30, the final court session for Sam Rajabi and Abdolreza Koohpayeh was held in Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Solaati.

Katayoun Rajabi, Sam Rajabi’s sister, also announced on her Twitter page that the court ruling will be issued within “8 days.”

On the other hand, Issa Kalantari, Deputy President of Iran and head of the Environmental Protection Organization, said on Wednesday, November 1, regarding the status of these activists’ case, without providing further details, that their problem “will be resolved soon in the judiciary.”

Previously, Fatima Qadirian, sister of Taher Qadirian, one of the defendants in Iran’s environmental case, announced on Sunday, October 12, in her Instagram story that the charge of “corruption on earth” was dropped from the case of four environmental defendants in Iran.

However, on Monday, October 22, a judicial spokesperson announced that the charges against Morad Tahbaz, Niloufar Bayani, and Houman Jokkar, three defendants in the environmental activists’ case, had been changed from “corruption on earth” to “spying for the CIA and Mossad.”

Recently, Jane Goodall, British scientist and UN Peace Ambassador, released a video calling for the release of imprisoned environmental activists in Iran and asked Iran’s leaders to “sow seeds of kindness, forgiveness, and compassion” regarding these individuals’ case.

Houman Jokkar, Taher Qadirian, Morad Tahbaz, Sepideh Kashani, Niloufar Bayani, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Sam Rajabi, and Abdolreza Koohpayeh are among the arrested environmental activists in Iran. Pooria Sepehvand, an expert at the Pars Heritage Wildlife Institute, was also arrested last month. These defendants have been in pre-trial detention for nearly two years. Court sessions for arrested environmental activists in Iran had been suspended since early this year.

Kavous Seyed-Emami was also among the arrested, whose death in prison was announced two weeks after his arrest. Islamic Republic officials claimed he committed suicide; however, Seyed-Emami’s family has rejected this claim.

The holding of court sessions for environmental defendants is occurring under circumstances where it was previously reported that environmental activists were not allowed to have their chosen lawyers and only use lawyers approved by the judiciary in court.

Amnesty International recently, coinciding with World Environment Day, urged Iranian authorities to end the suppression of environmental activists.

The environmental crisis in Iran has long attracted the attention of the international community. US officials have repeatedly warned about Iran’s mismanagement of natural resources, widespread deforestation, and unnecessary and unplanned dam construction aimed at filling the pockets of corrupt Islamic Republic officials, citing them as major factors in various environmental crises, including devastating floods and unprecedented droughts.

For example, Brian Hook, the US Special Representative for Iran, recently stated that 600 dams have been built in Iran since the revolution “without any environmental assessment,” announcing that the Islamic Republic regime has destroyed the country’s water resources through mismanagement over the past forty years.

Source: Voice of America