Political activists Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei hanged in Tehran this morning; another prisoner hanged in public

Jafar Kazemi

Altogether, six individuals were executed this morning in Iran.

Iran Human Rights, January 24: Five prisoners were hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison and one prisoner was hanged in public in Karaj (west of Tehran) early this morning.

Quoting Tehran’s prosecutor general, the official Iranian news agency IRNA, wrote: Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei, were convicted of Moharebeh (war against the God), and connection with Mujahedin-e-Khalgh (MEK) organization. They were charged with participating in the post-election protests, distributing pictures and banners related to MEK, taking photos and films of the clashes as well as chanting slogans in favor of the group.

According to the sources in Iran, these prisoners had denied to participate in televised confessions, despite the massive pressure from the Iranian authorities.

Iran Human Rights had previously warned against execution of these prisoners and urged the world community to react.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of Iran Human Rights strongly condemned today’s executions. He said: "Iranian regime is attempting to restore the fear barrier that was broken by the people in the summer of 2009". He added:" The leaders of this regime are very well aware of the fact that spreading terror among the people by executing defenseless prisoners is the only way their authority can survive". Amiry-Moghaddam urged the world community to condemn these crimes and said: "Leaders of the Iranian regime, above all Mr. Ali Khamenei, should be held accountable for the crimes they have committed against the Iranian people".

Three other men were hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison convicted of rape. These three were identified as Ghavam Atakeshzadeh, Mostafa Karimi Khaneghah and Reza Dehghan. They were all convicted of raping a minor in 2007 according to the official Iranian news agencies.

Another man was hanged in public in Karaj (west of Tehran) early this morning. The man, who was identified as Omid (28) was convicted of murdering 10 people.

With today’s executions, at least 70 people have been executed since the beginning of January 2011 in Iran. But these executions haven’t been condemned by the world community yet.

Source: Iran Human Rights, January 24, 2011

Executed Political Prisoner’s Wife: "They Didn't Inform Me Or His Lawyer"

In a telephone interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Jafar Kazemi’s wife said that when she went to visit her husband at Evin Prison a few hours ago, she was informed that he had been executed earlier this morning. “They executed him without informing us or his lawyer. They took my husband last week and asked him to give a [television] interview. The interrogator told him ‘whether or not you give an interview, you will be executed in less than a week.’ My husband did not agree to give the interview. They took him from there to the Sentence Implementation Unit, where they put a noose around his neck, but then they changed their mind and returned him [to his cell]. This is supposed to have been a miracle,” Roudabeh Akbari told the Campaign.

"This morning we went to visit with him. We filled out a [visitation request] card, too. But they came back and told us that they had hanged him. They said 'If we want to give you his body, we will call you. Go and take it easy. It's all finished now.' Of course, that's if they want to give his corpse to us. Because in the case of Mr. Saremi, they took the body and buried it. It is very likely that they may want to do the same thing with my husband," said Jafar Kazemi's wife.

"Please, I only ask you to tell the world what kinds of criminals and felons they are. Let the world know. How long does the world want to wait? How long do you want to issue statements and put up with them? Can you hear me?" said Roudabeh Akbari.

"They hanged him at 4:00 a.m., because they perform [the executions] early in the morning. They had no evidence, only a few photographs or videos taken and sent during the post-election gatherings. Is the punishment for this the death penalty? According to their own Constitution…punishment for someone who propagates against the regime is 1 to 6 years in prison. Look at the sentences they have been handing out. But God is great and he is up there, and he will seek my and my children’s revenge," said the political prisoner's wife.

"I went to the Prosecutor's Office last Saturday to ask for an appointment. They said the Prosecutor has told them: 'Don't let this woman in here. We want nothing to do with her and we will not accept any letters from her.' And now they want to threaten me again, saying 'why do you interview?' When they would not hear me at all, shouldn't I have said what was happening to us?" she said about her recent efforts to pursue her husband's case.

Source: Persian2English, January 24, 2011


Iran hangs 2 activists detained during 2009 unrest

Amnesty International has condemned the executions of 2 political activists who were arrested in September 2009 during mass protests following Iran's disputed presidential election. 

Ja'far Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei are reported to have been hanged this morning at Tehran's Evin Prison. Both men had been convicted of moharebeh (enmity against God), "propaganda against the system" and having contacts with a banned opposition group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI). 

Their hangings are the latest in a wave of executions which has seen the Iranian authorities execute at least 71 prisoners since the beginning of this year – an average of more than 20 each week. Thousands more prisoners are on death row. 

"We are appalled by the executions of Ja'far Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei, as we are appalled by the continuing use in Iran of this most cruel and extreme penalty," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa. 

"Like so many other victims, neither of these men received a fair trial. 

According to some reports, Ja'far Kazemi was tortured for months by his interrogators at Evin Prison to force him to make a televised "confession" but he refused to do so. 

He and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei were tried together. They are believed to have been sentenced to death in April 2010 and to have had their appeals rejected in July and September. 

Before they were arrested both men had visited members of their families who live in Camp Ashraf in Iraq, where some 3,400 members and supporters of the PMOI live in exile. Ja’far Kazemi's son lives at the Camp, which is located some 60km north of Baghdad. 

For months, the residents of Camp Ashraf have been subject to constant harassment, pressure and siege like conditions by the Iraqi authorities, who wish them to leave Iraq. They would be at very serious risk if forced to return to Iran. 

Other prisoners executed by the Iranian authorities in recent weeks include Hossein Khezri, a member of Iran's Kurdish minority, believed to have been executed on 15 January, and Ali Saremi who was executed in December 2010 for alleged membership of the PMOI . 

2 other members of the Kurdish minority, known as Ayoub and Mosleh, are among those reportedly facing execution. They are alleged to have taken part in and filmed sexual acts. Amnesty International wrote to the Head of Iran's Judiciary last week urging him to prevent their execution. 

Source: Amnesty International, January 24, 2011

Others face death on trumped-up Moharebeh charges as execution surge continues 

Following the execution of 2 post-election protestors today, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reiterated its call on the Iranian Judiciary and Parliament to immediately institute a moratorium on all death penalty cases and put a stop to the growing wave of executions. 

Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haji Aghaee, two post-election protestors charged with Moharebeh, or "enmity against God," were hung today inside Tehran’s Evin prison without their family or lawyers being notified. 4 other prisoners allegedly charged with criminal activity were also hung in Iran today, according to official reports. 

Since 1 January 2011, Iranian media have reported at least 60 executions with another 43 taking place between 20 December 2010 and 1 January 2011. A total of 4 political prisoners were among these executed: Ali Saremi, Hossein Khezri, Jafar Kazemi, and Mohammad Ali Haji Aghaee. 

Political prisoners Jafar Kazemi and Ali Haji Aghaee were hung in the early hours of 24 January 2011. Both were convicted of Moharebeh for their participation in post-election protests and alleged membership in the Mojahedin-e Khalgh Organization (MEK). 

Although the crime of Moharebeh explicitly refers to taking up arms against the state under Iranian laws, no evidence was produced to support such activity. The evidence used against the men included sending photographs of protests to contacts abroad, and visiting Camp Ashraf of MEK in Iraq. 

Kazemi’s wife, Roudabeh Akbari, informed the Campaign that he had been tortured to try to force him to confess to the charges, but Kazemi consistently denied any illegal activity. Neither Kazemi nor Aghaee’s legal defenses challenging the charge of Moharebeh were properly considered by appeals courts. Kazemi’s lawyer has noted that, while Kazemi had been accused of having a planning and organizing role in massive 27 December 2009 Ashura Day protests, he had been arrested months before and was in jail at the time. 

"The execution binge in Iran continues and the international community must do all it can to convince Iranian authorities to end it. No evidence of taking up arms against the government has been presented in Kazemi's or Aghaee's trials," said Hadi Ghaemi, the Campaign's spokesperson. 

"Moharebeh has become the Iranian Judiciary's catch-all justification for killing political dissidents," he said. 

In addition to the protestors executed today, the Iranian Judiciary sentenced seven other protestors to death, three of whom had their sentences reversed and changed to prison terms. But 4 others, Zahra Bahrami (an Iranian-Dutch citizen), Mohsen Daneshpour, Meysam Daneshpour, and Abdolreza Ghanbari are in danger of imminent execution. Ghanbari's sentence is reportedly under consideration for pardon, but given the recent executions, the Campaign is seriously concerned about further political executions. 

Since the mass arrests and show trials that followed the tainted June 2009 presidential election, increasing numbers of Iranians have been charged with Moharebeh, one of the most serious crimes identified in the Criminal Code, which carries the death penalty. Judiciary officials and clerics have claimed that human rights defenders and common hooligans and burglars are guilty of the crime. But leading legal scholars have clarified that the charge can only legally be applied in cases where firearms have been used in active resistance against state authorities. 

As reported earlier by the Campaign, Kazemi was arrested on 18 September 2009, and charged with Moharebeh for his alleged "support and propagation for the MEK," based on a visit he had paid to his son at Camp Ashraf in Iraq. Kazemi's wife, Roudabeh Akbari, informed the Campaign that he had been tortured in order to force him to confess to the charges, but Kazemi has consistently denied any illegal activity. His wife has written to the United Nations Secretary General asking for intervention to save his life. 

None of the three courts that reviewed Kazemi's case have taken appropriate consideration of his defense, according to his lawyer Nasim Ghanavi. Kazemi's initial sentence was handed down by Judge Moghiseh in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Courts, who reportedly claimed that his ruling was the result of political interference. Branch 36 of the Tehran appeals court, under Judge Zargan, upheld the sentence, ignoring defense documentation, and the case was eventually upheld by Branch 31 of the Supreme Court. 

Ms. Ghanavi, Kazemi's lawyer, noted that while Kazemi had been accused of having a planning and organizing role in massive 27 December 2009 Ashura Day protests, he had been arrested months before and was in jail at the time. 

A human rights activist familiar with the case told the Campaign, "During all phases of his interrogation, investigation, and lower court trial, Jafar Kazemi has been denied the right to a lawyer and a fair trial. The ruling issued for him was completely political and only aimed to intimidate society during the post-Ashura days and the days leading to February 11, 2010 [the anniversary of the Iranian Revolution]. Right now, also, there is concern that in pursuit of its political goals inside and outside the country, the Iranian government may suddenly carry out the execution at an unknown time. Mr. Kazemi is innocent and his only contact with the MEK is the presence of his son at Camp Ashraf." 

Source: Iran Human Rights, January 24, 2011

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