MP: Environmental activists continue to be detained despite end of interrogation
Iranian MP Mahmoud Sadeghi announced on Wednesday, August 14, that with the completion of the "investigation and interrogation" of the environmental activists, they have been handed over to the prosecutor's office, but "it is not clear why their detention has continued."
Mr. Sadeghi tweeted on Wednesday evening: "According to a relevant official in the IRGC's intelligence, it has been more than two weeks since the investigation and interrogation of the environmental activists was completed and they were handed over to the prosecutor's office. However, it is unclear why their detention has continued."
Mir Hossein Khaleghi, Hooman Jokar, Taher Ghadirian, Sam Rajabi, Niloufar Bayani, Sepideh Kashani, Morad Tahbaz, and Abdolreza Koohpayeh had been imprisoned in Ward 2A of the Revolutionary Guards since February 2017.
The IRGC's Intelligence Protection Agency has accused these individuals of espionage, but Issa Kalantari, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, says that according to the Ministry of Intelligence, "there is no evidence that these individuals are espionage."
On Monday, August 12, during a visit to the IRNA news agency, Mr. Kalantari reiterated that the Ministry of Intelligence had announced that there was no evidence that these individuals were spying.
However, he announced that the judiciary had "ordered" the Environmental Organization not to follow up on the status of detained environmental activists.
Kavous Seyed Emami, a university professor and environmental activist, was also arrested along with these eight people. On February 11, 2019, his family was informed that he had "committed suicide" in prison, but his family has denied this claim.
Source: Radio Farda
