Statement by a Group of Civil and Political Activists of the Country for the Release of Mehdi Hajetalpi, Detained Member of Shiraz City Council
A group of political and civil activists in Iran in a statement protesting the detention of Mehdi Hajetalpi, member of Shiraz City Council, have called for his retrial in an open court with the presence of a jury and ultimately his release. Mehdi Hajetalpi was transferred to Adelabad Prison in Shiraz on June 3, 2019 to serve a one-year prison sentence on charges of “supporting the deviant Baha’i sect” which was issued following the publication of a tweet.
In this statement signed by individuals such as Abdolfattah Soltani, Alireza Rajaei, Hashem Agha-jari, Mostafa Tajzadeh, Abol-Fazl Ghadiani, Abdollah Momeni and Saeed Madani, they have called on Iran’s judiciary to release Mehdi Hajetalpi and all political and ideological prisoners who “have been tried and imprisoned in clear violation of the principles of the Constitution, particularly Article 168.”
At the beginning of this statement published by Kalameh website, referring to the fact that political and ideological defendants have no protection in Iran’s judicial system, it states: “Political and ideological defendants in Iran’s judicial system are the most unprotected. They stand against false accusations with the backing of their courage and moral honor, knowing that in these courts there is no jury and no “justice-seeking” that preserves justice in its true place. This is a clear transgression that is done in the name of law, and the fate of all those who are summoned to such courts is predetermined: imprisonment and incarceration.”
Twenty-nine political and civil activists, lawyers and university professors have written about Mehdi Hajetalpi, who has been transferred to Adelabad Prison in Shiraz since June 3, 2019 to serve a one-year prison sentence: “Mehdi Hajetalpi, a brave and young member of Shiraz City Council, is also among this group who, a few days ago, officers came to his home without any summons and sent him to prison. With Mehdi Hajetalpi, we realize how much harder it becomes each day to truly fulfill the right of representation and advocacy for the people, to the point where this truthfulness and uncompromising defense of people’s rights culminates in imprisonment and incarceration.”
They further stated in their statement, protesting that government officials deny any discrimination against Baha’is in their international discussions but within the country not only arrest Baha’is but also those who defend them: “Some time ago they came after him asking why he had defended the rights of two Baha’i citizens; and they probably forgot that in every international or domestic forum, they themselves claim that Baha’is enjoy civil rights. Then they formed a legal case and accused him of propaganda against the system, spreading falsehoods with the intent to disturb public opinion, and the latest of these, membership in a “national-religious hostile group”.”
These civil figures further stated, referring to the fact that Mehdi Hajetalpi in Shiraz City Council made efforts to prevent the destruction of traditional neighborhoods of the city and one of the reasons for his detention and silencing was probably these efforts: “Should we believe that behind all these charges there are no power and wealth institutions that, through commercialization and destruction of vital urban neighborhoods, sacrifice the social existence of the majority of citizens for their own interests? During his short tenure as a representative, Hajetalpi never remained silent in the face of this destruction and transgression, and it seems that the solution was to empty Shiraz City Council of this articulate and brave voice through false political accusations. And now he has been sentenced to one year imprisonment and two years forced residence in Taba.”
Referring to the intense daily pressures on political activists in the country, they wrote: “Every day we witness new reports of pressure in prisons and the imprisonment of free and justice-seeking voices by order of judicial courts: from opposing treatment for Rouyin Atoofat and Narges Mohammadi, to the continued detention of Keyvan Samimi, Marzieh Amiri, Masoud Kazemi. And … finally the latest is the execution of Mehdi Hajetalpi’s sentence. This is the record of an institution whose independence has never been recognized. With such a history and record, perhaps requesting the release of all these innocent people who have said nothing but the truth and never took a step beyond defending citizens’ rights is nothing but tilting at windmills.”
Twenty-nine political and civil activists concluded: “But this does not stop us from persistently demanding the release of all ideological and political prisoners including Mehdi Hajetalpi -who have been tried and imprisoned in clear violation of the principles of the Constitution, particularly Article 168 thereof- and their retrial in an open court with the presence of a jury. June 2019”
The names of the signatories of this statement are: Hashem Agha-jari – Ghorban Behzadinezhad – Mostafa Tajzadeh – Mohammad Tosoli – Mohammad Hoseini-nia – Behzad Haghpanah – Khosrow Delir Sani – Mahmoud Dardkeshani – Alireza Rajaei – Bahman Rezakhani – Mohammad Rezaei – Ahmad Rezaei – Hossein Rafiee – Reza Raeesi Tousi – Abdolfattah Soltani – Ehsan Shariyati – Firoozeh Saber – Hashem Sabagian – Mahmoud Omrani – Ghaffar Farzadi – Abol-Fazl Ghadiani – Nezam-al-Din Ghahhari – Mohammad Kianousharad – Fateme Govaraei – Mohammad Mohammadi-Ardahali – Saeed Madani – Mohammad Moghisseh – Abdollah Momeni – Ali Nikju
A few months later, Zahra Rastgari, wife of Mr. Hajetalpi, member of the city council on Sunday, June 3, 2019, announced on her personal Twitter account the news of his imprisonment to serve a one-year prison sentence. Zahra Rastgari tweeted: “An hour ago, officials came to our home and transferred my husband #Mehdi_Hajetalpi to prison to serve a one-year prison sentence. We received a text message yesterday about the issuance of the sentence and it was executed today.”
Source: Human Rights Campaign
