Iranian Documentarians Testify to ‘Innocence’ of Detained Environmental Activists
A number of Iranian documentarians have testified to the “innocence” of 8 detained environmental activists in a letter to Iran’s head of judiciary, calling for a “fair and transparent” review of their cases.
The letter from these documentarians was reflected in the Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA, expressing concern about the fate of Amirhossein Khaleghi, Houman Jokar, Sam Rajabi, Taher Ghadirian, Niloofar Bayani, Sepideh Kashani, Morad Tahbaz, and Abdolreza Koohpayeh.
The eight environmental activists have been held in detention by the Sepah Intelligence Organization since last year. The judiciary initially announced their charge as “espionage for foreigners,” but several months later the charge of “corruption on earth” was raised against some of them, for which the sentence can be execution.
This case has meanwhile been overshadowed by the death of Kavous Seyed Emami, head of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, who died in detention at the Sepah Intelligence Organization. Sepah officials described the cause of his death as “suicide.”
“160 Iranian documentarians” wrote in their letter to Sadegh Amoli Larijani, Iran’s head of judiciary, that the detained environmental activists “have spent most of their lives on raising awareness and increasing sensitivity toward Iran’s endangered environment and saving our country’s wildlife, and have been among the main protectors of the Asiatic cheetah, which has become a symbol of Iran’s environmental heritage.”
The signatories of this letter then described the charges of “espionage and treason, and corruption on earth” against these eight environmental activists as unbelievable and emphasized that “anyone who knows them can find nothing in them but development of this land.”
Previously, the Ministry of Intelligence, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and a four-member delegation tasked by the president with investigating this case had rejected the espionage charges against these environmental activists. The letter from Iranian documentarians also refers to the vote of the Ministry of Intelligence and the four-member delegation of the presidency on this case and states that “every day the number of witnesses to their innocence increases.”
These documentarians finally told Mr. Larijani that they demand “transparent and fair trial, holding of an open court, and granting the accused the right to freely choose their lawyers.”
So far, three court sessions for the eight environmental activists have been held in closed proceedings, and in all three sessions only lawyers “trusted” by the judiciary were present.
Source: Radio Farda
