Saeed Madani, a sociologist, was banned from leaving the country by IRGC intelligence at the airport.
Saeed Madani, a sociologist who was traveling to the country at the invitation of Yale University in the United States for a study opportunity, was prevented from traveling by the IRGC Intelligence Agency at the airport and was banned from leaving.
In a letter to Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of Iran's judiciary, Mr. Madani provided an explanation of the incident, which took place on Tuesday, January 27, and said that the security forces' actions conflict with many of the principles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Iranian laws.
This action came at a time when Islamic Republic officials had repeatedly called on Iranians abroad to return to Iran in their speeches in recent months, claiming that they would not face any legal or intelligence action, and that no one would prevent them from leaving the country.
Mr. Madani stated in his letter that after receiving his boarding pass and checking in his luggage, he went to the last gate at the airport, but at this stage, under the pretext of checking the validity of his US visa, he was taken to the police office and interrogated by officers from various security agencies.
The sociologist wrote in his letter that after answering the IRGC Intelligence Agency's questions about his positions, views, and activities, he reminded him that there were only a few minutes left before the flight and that this conversation should be postponed to another time and place, but the agent in question announced that he was banned from leaving and could not travel.
The head of the Islamic Republic of Iran's judiciary has repeatedly criticized the ban on people leaving the country at the airport and before flights in recent months. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei had said in Mehr, for example: "First, it must be determined which agencies are authorized to ban people from leaving, who they should be banned from leaving for, and for how long. It is damaging not to inform people without any legal justification that they have been banned from leaving and to have them find out about it at the airport."
However, Saeed Madani's letter suggests that his exit ban was imposed moments before the flight. Mr. Madani wrote that two days before the flight, intelligence officials had interrogated him, "and at the end, in response to my question as to whether I was banned from leaving or whether there was an obstacle to using the intelligence opportunity at Yale University, they answered in the negative and emphasized that I could travel."
The former professor at the University of Rehabilitation and Social Health Sciences then presented a list of "violations" by the security forces in this incident, including "preventing judicial officers, including a representative of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, from legally leaving the country without observing legal standards and issuing an exit ban without the necessary formalities and issuing a ruling in a competent court" and "verbally announcing the exit ban and failing to communicate a written and official legal ruling to this date."
He also emphasized that this action by the security forces "clearly contradicts the ninth, twentieth, thirtieth, and thirty-third principles of the Constitution and Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as Article 12, paragraph two, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."
Saeed Madani has conducted extensive research in the field of social harms, including addiction, violence against women, prostitution, and child abuse. Social movements are another area of his research. "Social Movements and Democratization," "Violence Against Children in Iran," "On Execution," and "Addiction in Iran" are among the books of this author.
He had previously been arrested and convicted several times on political charges in 1994, 1999, 2000, and 2011, which reveals a side of the Iranian government's dealings with writers and civil activists.
Source: Radio Farda
