Families of eight environmental activists request release in letter to head of judiciary

The families of eight environmental activists who have been temporarily detained in multiple solitary confinement cells in Evin Prison since late February 2017 have written an open letter to the head of the judiciary demanding the end of their temporary detention and their release, despite the fact that more than a year and six months have passed since their arrest and that " no documents or evidence have been provided by the prosecution or the IRGC intelligence" for this long-term detention.

On July 28, Hessam Khaleghi, the brother of Amir Hossein Khaleghi, an environmental activist who was arrested, published a copy of the families’ letter to Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the judiciary, on his Twitter page. Hessam Khaleghi has asked internet users to share the letter. The letter repeatedly mentions the intimidation, torture, and threats against these environmental activists, and that their charges have been changed many times without providing evidence during the “ 510 days of detention. ”

The letter begins by stating that the families of imprisoned environmental activists have previously sent two other letters to the head in March 2018 and April 2019, both of which have gone unanswered, and the illegal detention process continues. This is the third letter to him in the past four months.

According to this letter, the illegal measures applied to the eight environmental activists by the IRGC Intelligence Service and the judiciary since their arrest include " pressure, intimidation, and torture " to force them to confess, the lack of the right to freely choose a lawyer, the lack of the right to have a lawyer and to meet with any lawyer for up to one year after arrest, and the continuation of temporary detention beyond the legal period, the failure to transfer Niloufar Bayani to her second court session simply because she had told the judge in the first session about the pressure and torture she had been subjected to in order to confess, the transfer of all of them to unknown locations for questioning and answering, threats, and intimidation, and finally the failure to provide any documents or evidence from the prosecution and the IRGC Intelligence Service proving their guilt.

In this letter, the families wrote to the chief : " They have been deprived of the right to have and meet with a lawyer for about a year since their arrest, and the court hearing the case has not allowed the families to hire a lawyer freely and of their own free will. This is an example of non-compliance with the law, contrary to Articles 48 and 190 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and is not a violation of the law by the prosecution and the court. "

The letter continues : " Now that a year and a half has passed since the case was filed and after the indictment was read in court, it has become clear that not only has the prosecution and the IRGC intelligence not presented any documents or evidence, but only confessions extracted under great pressure have been relied upon. "

They are in this letter.  The head of the judiciary, as the highest judicial authority in the country, has been asked : " Isn't ignoring the protests and complaints of detainees regarding confessions made under pressure, intimidation, and torture from the beginning of the investigation, and more importantly, obtaining a confession under the stated conditions, an example of an act against the law and a legal violation by the judicial officer? Isn't issuing an indictment based on confessions that are invalid in accordance with Article 60 of the Criminal Procedure Code an example of a legal violation by the prosecution? "

The letter also mentions the failure to send environmental activist Niloufar Bayani to her second court session : " Despite the law's emphasis on reading the indictment in the presence of the accused, is not the failure to send Ms. Niloufar Bayani from the detention center and preventing her from appearing in court due to her protest against the pressure exerted on her to confess and her denial of confessions under pressure during the preliminary investigation a failure to comply with the law and a violation of the court's law? "

These families have also spoken about the transfer of " all detainees " to unknown locations for threats and intimidation : " Isn't transferring all detainees to unknown locations and subjecting them to repeated questions and answers, threats and intimidation, after the investigation is completed and the indictment is issued and the case is sent to court, and even after the indictment is read in court, an example of disregard for the law and a violation of the law by the judicial officer? "

The letter addressed to the head of the judiciary reads : " Only God Almighty knows how this past year and a half has passed for us . From the lack of respect for the law, from the lack of information , from isolation, from the intimidation and pressure on our loved ones, from uncertainty, from exhausting and useless efforts, and from the fact that every week and every month they have changed the charges against our loved ones ! While more than 510 days have passed since the temporary detention of our loved ones 1 - Morad Tahbaz 2 - Amir Hossein Khaleghi, 3 - Sam Rajabi, 4 - Abdolreza Koohpayeh 5 - Taher Ghadirian and the ladies 1 - Sepideh Kashani and 2 - Niloufar Bayani, on suspicion of some charges by the IRGC intelligence."

The families of these eight imprisoned environmental activists wrote at the beginning of their letter : " In this year and a half, more than the suffering of being imprisoned and being away from our loved ones, the lack of accountability and lack of respect for the law by the responsible authorities has been difficult and painful for us. "

Referring to the slogans of the president that he raised after his appointment as head of the judiciary, they wrote : " With your emphasis on the need to uphold the law, we expected and expect that the lack of compliance with the law in the handling of the case of our loved ones will stop, but after nearly two months have passed since our last correspondence with His Excellency and the statement of the shortcomings in the handling of the case, this important matter has not been done so far and the illegal process has not been stopped. " In the thesis, the families of these eight environmental activists stated, "Given the different and contradictory statements made by various security institutions, including the Ministry of Intelligence, the Supreme National Security Council, and the IRGC Intelligence, regarding the accusation of espionage against these loved ones, the issue should be investigated in light of the alleged documents and evidence in the case in the presence of all relevant security institutions and agencies. "

They have previously sent letters to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, former head of the judiciary Sadegh Amoli Larijani, and  They had written to Parliament Speaker Larijani and asked for help in freeing their children, but none of the officials responded to their letters.

Sepideh Kashani, Niloufar Bayani, Amir Hossein Khaleghi, Hooman Jokar, Murad Tahbaz, Abdolreza Kohpayeh, Sam Rajabi, and Taher Ghadirian are eight environmental activists who were arrested by the IRGC Intelligence Service on February 24 and 25. Some of them are accused of espionage and two of them are accused of the serious charge of “corruption on earth.” So far, two court sessions have been held for Niloufar Bayani and Murad Tahbaz in February 2018. However, Niloufar Bayani was not transferred to her second court session and only her lawyer was present. However, contrary to promises, the trials of the remaining detainees have not yet been held.

A year after the arrest of these activists, the Supreme National Security Council, like the members of parliament and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, announced that there was no evidence that these individuals were acting as foreign agents. In a tweet in February 2018, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of parliament, announced that the National Security Council had also not recognized the activities of these individuals as acts of espionage: “According to the information received, the Supreme National Security Council, after reviewing the files of the environmental defendants, has not recognized the activities of the defendants as acts of espionage.”

Previously, the Minister of Intelligence, a member of the Presidential Investigation and Special Committee on the arrest of environmental activists, and the head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization had reported on their innocence and said that they were being detained without reason.

Issa Kalantari, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said on June 1, 2018: "Based on the determination of the four-member committee of the government , the arrested activists should be released because there is no evidence to prove the accusations made against these individuals. " He said: "So far, it has been determined that these individuals were arrested without doing anything and should be released."

On February 25, a source familiar with developments in the case told the Campaign about the details of the mistreatment of these individuals in prison that “some of these environmental activists were held for months under solitary confinement and psychological torture, threats of death, threats of injecting hallucinogenic drugs, and threats of arrest and murder of their family members. The source also added that some of these activists were beaten to force them to confess against themselves.”

Full text of the letter from eight environmental activists to the head of the judiciary (third letter in the past four months)

In the name of God, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful.

Dear Dr. Seyed Ebrahim Raisi

Honorable President of the Judiciary

With greetings and respect; Following the letters of March 2018 and May 2019, we would like to once again convey to your Excellency the following information regarding the case of environmental activists:

Your Excellency, after assuming responsibility in the judiciary and in your introductory meeting on March 10, 2018, you correctly said: “I do not want to say that the implementation of justice is equal to the implementation of the law, but for now, if we want to agree on one principle, it is the implementation of the law, ” and you added: “No one, under any circumstances, in any position, will have the right to circumvent the law or violate the law.”

Dear Dr. Raisi; In this past year and a half, more than the suffering of being imprisoned and away from our loved ones, the lack of accountability and lack of respect for the law by the responsible authorities has been more difficult and painful for us. With your presence in the judiciary and your emphasis on the need to uphold the law, we have expected and are expecting that the process of not respecting the law in handling the case of our loved ones will stop. However, nearly two months have passed since our last correspondence with you and the statement of the violations committed in the handling of the case, this has not happened and the illegal process has not stopped.

Dear Dr. Raisi, in your opinion:

1) The fact that all defendants were deprived of the right to have and meet with a lawyer for about a year after their arrest, and that the court hearing the case did not allow the families to hire a lawyer freely and of their own free will, is not an example of non-compliance with the law, contrary to Articles 48 and 190 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and a violation of the law by the prosecution and the court ?

2) Despite the clarity of Article 242 of the Criminal Procedure Code , which states: “… In any case, in crimes punishable by deprivation of life, the period of temporary detention shall not exceed two years and in other crimes, one year.” And the law does not recognize any exceptions, whether the crime is security or non-security, after a year and five months have passed since the arrest of these dear ones, is the continuation of temporary detention since February 2018 (one year has passed) for at least four of them (Amirhossein Khaleghi Hamidi, Sam Rajabi, Abdolreza Kohpayeh, and Sepideh Kashani) illegal and an example of the court’s legal violation of the Criminal Procedure Code , given their charges ?

3) Isn't the court's insistence on ordering temporary detention for 4 other people (Morad Tahbaz, Hooman Jokar, Taher Ghadirian, and Niloufar Bayani) despite the passage of 10 months since the completion of the preliminary investigation, and the failure to transfer the aforementioned individuals to the general ward of the prison in order to enjoy the minimum citizenship rights and facilities provided for prisoners, an example of non-compliance with the law and disregard for Articles 237, 238, and 250 of the Criminal Procedure Code?

4) Now that a year and a half has passed since the filing of the case and after the indictment was read in court, it has been determined that not only has no documents and evidence been presented by the prosecution and the IRGC Intelligence, but only confessions obtained under great pressure have been relied upon, and the failure to pay attention to the detainees' objections and complaints regarding confessions obtained under pressure, intimidation, and torture from the beginning of the investigation, and more importantly, obtaining confessions under the aforementioned conditions, is not an example of an act against the law and a violation of the law by the judicial officer? Is not issuing an indictment based on confessions that are invalid in accordance with Article 60 of the Criminal Procedure Code a case of a violation of the law by the prosecution?

5) Despite the law's emphasis on reading the indictment in the presence of the accused, is not the failure to release Ms. Niloufar Bayani from detention and preventing her from appearing in court due to her objection to the pressure exerted to extract a confession and her denial of confessions under pressure during the preliminary investigation a failure to comply with the law and a violation of the court's law?

6) Isn't transferring all detainees to unknown locations, subjecting them to repeated questions and answers, and threatening and intimidating them, after the investigation is completed, the indictment is issued, and the case is sent to court, and even after the indictment is read in court, an example of disregard for the law and a violation of the law by the judicial officer?

Dear Dr. Raisi; While more than 510 days have passed since the temporary detention of our dear gentlemen: 1- Morad Tahbaz 2- Amir Hossein Khaleghi 3- Sam Rajabi 4- Hooman Jokar 5- Abdolreza Koohpayeh 6- Taher Ghadirian and ladies 1- Sepideh Kashani and 2- Niloufar Bayani, on suspicion of some charges by the IRGC intelligence, only God Almighty knows how this year and a half has passed for us? From the lack of respect for the law, from the lack of information, from isolation, from intimidation and pressure on our dear ones, from uncertainty, from exhausting and useless efforts, and from the fact that they have changed the charges against our dear ones every week and every month!!

But since the beginning of the case, we have been following up on the case of our loved ones, while maintaining calm and avoiding conflict and abiding by the law, and solely through the country's legal authorities. In this regard, we have had numerous correspondences and meetings with most of the country's competent and relevant authorities, and we have pleaded for this case to be handled in accordance with the law and the legal rights of our loved ones to be protected.

Now, we ask you again, based on your promise to the people at the beginning of your acceptance of responsibility, that no one will have the right to circumvent the law or violate the law under any circumstances and in any position, in addition to ordering the illegal arrest of our loved ones and their release , and considering the different and contradictory statements made by various security institutions, including the Ministry of Intelligence, the Supreme National Security Council, and the IRGC Intelligence, regarding the accusation of espionage against these loved ones, to examine the matter in light of the alleged documents in the case, in the presence of all relevant security institutions and agencies , in order to prevent their rights from being violated, unjustified accusations of security, and unjust punishment. We thank you in advance for your consideration.

Source: Human Rights Campaign