A group of civil society activists wrote to Ebrahim Raisi demanding the release of environmental activists.
While the arrest and trial of environmental activists continues in Iran, a group of activists in this field, in a letter addressed to the new head of the judiciary, on the sidelines of the environmental exhibition, called for the release of the imprisoned activists.
According to the Hamshahri newspaper, the letter, which was also signed by a number of directors-general and deputies of the Environmental Protection Organization, states: "Their failure to release, despite the Ministry of Intelligence (as the authority for detecting espionage), the Supreme National Security Council, the four-member presidential investigation committee, the Environmental Organization, and a number of members of parliament, has caused concern among the country's environmental community."
The environmental activists' case has eight defendants, three of whom are facing charges of espionage and four of whom are facing charges of corruption on earth. One of the defendants has also been charged with conspiracy against national security.
Niloufar Bayani, Hooman Jokar, Sam Rajabi, Morad Tahbaz, Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, Sepideh Kashani, Amirhossein Khaleghi, and Taher Ghadirian are the defendants in the environmental case in Iran.
These environmental activists were arrested in February 2017, and their trial began about a year after their arrest. Three of them are accused of "espionage" and four are accused of "corruption on earth." One person is also charged with "acting against national security."
Their court hearings are being held in a situation where it was previously reported that environmental activists were not allowed to have lawyers of their own choosing and were only allowed to appear in court with lawyers approved by the judiciary.
Part of a statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on behalf of the American people, offering condolences to the flood victims in Iran, stated that "they (the Iranian regime) are even imprisoning environmental activists who are trying to help Iran in such a situation for their efforts."
Source: Voice of America
