Ten Months After Arrest; Environmental Activists Charged with Corruption on Earth

A lawyer for several detained environmental activists in Iran says that ten months after their arrest, the charges against these individuals have changed from espionage to “corruption on earth.”

“Mohammad Hossein Aghassi,” a legal counsel, told news websites on Sunday, October 29, that the prosecutor, based on a letter from the military, has requested to inform five environmental activists out of eight detained in December of last year, of charges of “corruption on earth.”

Mr. Aghassi explained that the prosecutor, relying on a letter received from the military through the Supreme National Security Council, has decided to change the charge in the indictment of these five individuals.

He stated that espionage charges had previously been brought against these five individuals, saying that now, given the military’s report, the situation has changed.

The lawyer for these environmental activists added: “Apparently, the military sent some matters in a letter in the form of a report to the Supreme National Security Council, and Mr. Shamkhani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, forwarded the letter to the prosecutor for information without any commentary, and the prosecutor decided to change the charges against these individuals based on this letter. The investigator has also accepted it.”

It is reported that the charge of “corruption on earth” has been brought against Morad Tahbaz, Niloofar Bayani, Houman Jokar, Sepideh Kashani, and Taher Ghadirian.

A noteworthy point regarding this case is that these individuals, along with Kavous Seyed-Emami and several other activists, were arrested in December of last year by the IRGC Intelligence Organization on charges of espionage.

While the families of the detainees, the head of the Department of Environment, a committee designated by the government, and the Ministry of Intelligence have repeatedly announced that the detainees did not commit espionage, the Islamic Republic’s judicial system insisted on espionage charges until recent months. Now, a different claim about these activists has been sent by the military through Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, to the judicial system to establish the basis for the charge of “corruption on earth.”

The presidency of the Supreme National Security Council is held by Hassan Rouhani, and it is said that Mr. Shamkhani, the secretary of this council, who is appointed by the Supreme Leader, has good relations with Mr. Rouhani and the government. However, as the lawyer for the environmental activists has stated, Mr. Shamkhani forwarded the military’s letter verbatim and without any reaction to the judicial system.

The introduction of new charges prolongs the investigation into the case of environmental activists, while these individuals have been in temporary detention for more than nine months, and the failure to determine their status has drawn much criticism.

In December of last year, Kavous Seyed-Emami and nine other environmental activists and experts were arrested by IRGC Intelligence. Shortly thereafter, prison officials informed Mr. Seyed-Emami’s family that he had committed suicide in prison.

His death sparked significant reactions in Canada and the United States, and some human rights organizations criticized the Islamic Republic.

The Islamic Republic’s judicial system announced that the detainees’ charges were “espionage.” The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported that Mr. Seyed-Emami, a university professor and director of the Pars Heritage Wildlife Foundation, and his colleagues, using leopard photography cameras, attempted to photograph IRGC missile sites and provided information about these sites to foreign intelligence organizations.

However, the head of the Department of Environment rejected this charge and said that these cameras are only capable of photographing within a 50-meter radius around themselves.

Niloofar Bayani, Houman Jokar, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Sam Rajabi, Morad Tahbaz, Taher Ghadirian, Abdolreza Koohpayeh, and Sepideh Kashani Doost are detained environmental activists and experts.

Mr. Aghassi represents Sam Rajabi, who has not been charged with “corruption on earth.”

Source: Voice of America