Over 800 People Call for Release of Ismail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qolian
More than 800 activists, artists, journalists, and lawyers inside and outside Iran have called for the swift release of Sepideh Qolian and Ismail Bakhshi from prison. They have held the Ministry of Intelligence and Rouhani responsible for the safety and well-being of these two individuals.
More than 800 civil and political activists, artists, journalists, and human rights lawyers have expressed concern in a statement about the unclear situation of Ismail Bakhshi, a worker at Haft Tappeh sugarcane factory, and Sepideh Qolian, a protesting student, in prison. The signatories of the statement have written that suppression is not a response to protests against violations of human and professional rights: “These demands are the demands of all people and professions, and in solidarity with the demands of Haft Tappeh workers, we ask all people and activists not to leave them alone.”
This statement, criticizing security measures against popular and labor protests and strikes, considers the arrest of Ismail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qolian contrary to international law and the commitments of the Islamic Republic: “In all international commitments of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including international covenants on civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, and the constitution of the International Labour Organization, the right to association, popular and labor protests and strikes are emphasized, and the Islamic Republic is committed to implementing them.”
Previously, a number of lawyers sent an open letter to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran and protested violations of criminal procedure law in the cases of these two individuals.
The aforementioned lawyers, noting that no official body in Iran has investigated claims by the two defendants of physical torture, called for pursuing “unlawful, inhumane, and unethical treatment” of Ismail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qolian in an extraordinary session of the Human Rights Council.
Ismail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qolian were arrested again on January 20, 2019, one day after the broadcast of a film showing their forced confessions during interrogation. Farzaneh Zilabi, Bakhshi’s lawyer, announced that she would file a complaint against the state broadcaster for the film “Burnt Design.” Sepideh Qolian also recounted her torture during interrogation in an audio and video file before her re-arrest.
Ismail Bakhshi was arrested in late November during protests by Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers and was held by Ministry of Intelligence officials for about a month. After his release, he wrote on his Instagram that he was tortured so severely during detention that he could not move for three days. Mr. Bakhshi invited the Minister of Intelligence to a televised debate and to answer questions about his arrest case.
The Ministry of Intelligence, the Prosecutor’s Office, and the National Security Commission of the Parliament have denied the torture of Ismail Bakhshi and reduced the issue to an altercation between the defendant and officers during transfer to the detention facility. After coordinated denials by security and government officials, Ismail Bakhshi transformed from a complainant to a defendant with “political objectives.”
Source: DW
