Iran: Abdolreza Ghanbari, Another Ashura Day Protester Receives the Death Penalty

Abdolreza Ghanbari, accused of heretics (moharebeh) for participation in Ashura Day protests, has been sentenced to death by Judge Salavati. International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has been informed that Ghanbari did not have access to a fair trial and has not had the possibility to select and talk to an attorney in compiling his defense.

Following a meeting with Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani in Qom on Monday, Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said that verdicts of six Ashura Day suspects have been issued and the sentences are under appeal. Earlier, the Prosecutor's Office had announced that it had requested death sentences for eleven individuals arrested on Ashura Day. Tehran Prosecutor has also said that the Judiciary has only tried members of "anti-revolutionary groups and organizations," and has released individuals "remorseful" about their actions. No details were published of such relations.

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran asks the Iranian Judiciary authorities to provide conditions for a fair trial such as free access to a selected attorney for individuals such as Abdolreza Ghanbari, and to refrain from rushing suspects whose charges have no reasonable relation to their sentences to the noose. Considering the irreversibility of death sentences, and serious speculation about the political nature of many of the sentences issued after the June 12, 2009 elections, the Iranian Judiciary's enthusiasm for issuing moharebeh and death sentences appears astonishing.

2 Iranian political prisoners named Arash Rahmanipour and Mohammad Reza Alizamani were executed on January 28, 2010 without their lawyers' or their families knowledge about the execution time, deeply wounding public conscience.

Ashura, which is the holiest religious day in Iran, turned into one of the bloodiest days of the year on December 27, 2009; at least seven protesters were killed and hundreds were arrested. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi has also said that 250 people detained during Ashura Day protests have been issued indictments and many of them have already been tried.

Alireza Ghanbari is 42 years old and is from the poverty-stricken area of Ghiamdasht in Varamin. Ghanbari is a teacher and it is said that his only "crime" has been to participate in the public protests of Ashura Day and chanting slogans against Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader. After his arrest on Ashura Day, he was detained at the "2-A" Security Ward, related to IRGC's Intelligence unit. He was tried on January 30, 2010 without his familys knowledge and without the right to select an attorney or to meet with his family. In his trial court presided by Judge Salavati, he admitted to participating in the Ashura Day protests and other matters. A person who follows Ghanbari's case closely told the Campaign that Ghanbaris confessions have been extracted under pressure and torture. He has been denied the right to an attorney and has recently been transferred to Evin Prison's General Ward.

Like the other cases the Tehran Prosecutor referenced, Ghanbari's case is currently in appeals court. Since the names of those sentenced to death have not been announced, Ghanbari's lack of possibility to choose his own attorney and his family's lack of knowledge about the details of his case increase serious concern about his execution and that of others arrested after the elections.

Source: Iran Human Rights, March 18, 2010

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