Amir Hekmati, an Arizona-born Iranian-American who had served as an Arabic translator in the US Marine Corps, was accused of spying for the CIA and sentenced to death for “collaboration with a hostile government”. His appeal against this conviction and sentence must be lodged within 20 days.
Hekmati was held without access to his family, a lawyer or consular assistance after his arrest in August last year, in violation of international law.
He was made to participate in a televised "confession" before his trial in December, breaching his rights to a fair trial even further.
“Like many other detainees in Iran, Amir Hekmati did not receive a fair trial and we question the timing and political circumstances of this decision,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s interim Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“We know from past experience that the Iranian authorities sometimes rush forward with executions of political prisoners – including dual nationals – at politically sensitive times and we fear that this execution could happen within days or weeks.”
The death sentence for Hekmati comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the US, amid announcements that Iran has begun uranium enrichment and strengthened US sanctions against Iran.
The Iranian authorities have executed political prisoners in January over the past two years, in relation to the unrest following the disputed presidential election of 2009.
These executions have widely been seen as warnings to potential opposition protesters ahead of yearly celebrations marking the 11 February anniversary of the Iranian Revolution when people are encouraged to demonstrate in large numbers in support of the state. Zahra Bahrami, who held dual Dutch-Iranian nationality, was executed for alleged drugs offences in January 2011 while awaiting trial on political charges related to the post-election unrest.
Parliamentary elections – the first elections to be held since 2009 – are also scheduled for March 2012.
“The lives of political detainees on death row in Iran are hanging in the balance this month,” said Ann Harrison.
Iranian activists on death row
Gholamreza Khosravi Savajani, an alleged supporter of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) who reportedly spent more than 40 months in solitary confinement in various detention centres in Iran, is also facing execution.
Arrested in Kerman on 24 February 2008, he was sentenced to death in late 2011 after conviction of “moharebeh” (enmity against God) in connection with his alleged financial support to the pro-PMOI TV station Simay-Azadi.
Three alleged PMOI supporters – Ali Saremi, Ja'far Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei – were executed in Iran between 26 December 2010 and 24 January 2011. All men had been convicted of moharebeh (enmity against God) in relation to contacts with the PMOI.
Blogger Vahid Asghari, who had hosted websites critical of the government, was sentenced to death on Friday after conviction in an unfair trial of “corruption on earth” for allegedly organising a “pornographic” network against Islam and the state.
Asghari had been held since May 2008. In October 2009 he said in a letter to a judge that he had been subjected to torture, forced to make a televised “confession” and forced to make spying allegations against high profile blogger Hossein Derakhshan.
Saeed Malekpour, a 36-year-old web designer and permanent resident of Canada, is also under sentence of death following a retrial on similar charges, which may be linked to Vahid Asghari’s case. A previous death sentence was reportedly overturned in June 2011.
Prior to his arrest during a family visit to Iran in 2008, he had created a program enabling photos to be uploaded online which had then been used to post pornographic images without his knowledge. He is alleged to have been tortured while being held in solitary confinement in Evin Prison for more than a year.
The government has officially acknowledged executing 17 people already this year, although Amnesty International has received information suggesting at least 39 people may have been put to death in the first week of 2012 alone.
In December 2011, Amnesty International highlighted a massive wave of executions in Iran throughout 2011, with over 600 people being put to death between the beginning of 2011 and November. Most of these were for drug related offences.
The scope of the death penalty is very broad in Iran and thousands are believed to remain on death row.
Most are alleged drugs offenders, but at least 14 women and men – including Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani - are facing stoning to death after conviction of “adultery while married”. Pastor Yousef Naderkhani also remains held pending the outcome of his retrial on the charge of “aspostasy from Islam”.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases as the ultimate violation of the right to life.
Source: Amnesty International, January 9, 2012
Iranian Judiciary Must Reverse American Citizen’s Death Sentence
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| Amir Mirzaei Hekmati |
This is the 1st time an American citizen has been sentenced to death by the Iranian judiciary.
“We are seriously concerned regarding the death sentence, secrecy, and continued lack of transparency surrounding the prosecution of Iranian-American citizen Amir Hekmati,” said Campaign spokesperson Hadi Ghaemi.
“We ask the Iranian judiciary to adhere to international standards of due process and allow independent observers in the courtroom at his appeals trial,” he added.
A source close to the family told the Campaign that the US citizen entered Iran for the 1st time on 15 August 2011 to visit with his family members. He was arrested on 29 August 2011 on charges of espionage.
“When Amir supplied his background and applied for his passport processing at the Iranian Interest Section of the Pakistan Embassy in Washington DC, he was assured that his prior employment with the US government was not going to impede his trip to Iran nor cause him any problems,” the source added.
4 months after his arrest in August 2011, Hekmati’s 1st court session was held on 27 December at Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. Presiding Judge Abolghassem Salavati denied Hekmati the lawyer hired by his family to represent him. Instead, a court-appointed lawyer represented him during the trial without ever seeing him beforehand.
Judge Salavati is one of Iran’s most notorious judges, well known for the unlawful and harsh sentences he has delivered to dozens of political prisoners during the post-election show trials. He has sentenced more than one hundred political prisoners, human rights activists, and peaceful demonstrators to lengthy prison sentences as well as at least nine execution sentences, earning the moniker “The Judge of Death.”
Over the past few years a number of Iranian-Americans who have traveled to Iran have faced similar charges, from undermining the Islamic Republic to spying for American agencies. In all such cases the defendants have been released after a few months and have left the country.
“Almost all the elements of Hekmati’s case fall into a classic pattern of Iranian intelligence’s spy-finding machine,” said Ghaemi.
The source close to the family told the Campaign that over the course of Hekmati’s arrest, Iranian authorities pressured them not to talk with the media, assuring the family they would release Hekmati soon. During his arrest and subsequent detention, Hekmati was never allowed to contact his family in the US.
According to state-operated Fars News Agency, Hekmati allegedly entered Iran with the aim of penetrating the country’s intelligence system. Further examination, according to a report by the Judicial-Legal Director of the Intelligence Ministry’s Espionage Unit, indicated that his goal was to accuse Iran of involvement with terrorism. His indictment alleged that Hekmati was recruited by the CIA in May 2009 to carry out espionage missions in Iran.
The family asserts that what was said in the indictment regarding Hekmati’s background, his prior service in the US military and his prior employment with the US government, is in the public record and he never hid what he did in the past. All the information regarding his background could be obtained from his passport application, as well as from his resume, easily accessible from his confiscated laptop.
Breaking their months-long silence, Amir Hekmati’s family issued a statement on 3 January 2012, asserting, “We have been asked by Iranian authorities to remain silent, and were told that Amir would eventually be released soon. After … reports that a verdict is imminent we can no longer remain silent.”
Rather than release Hekmati without charges, on 27 December Iranian authorities televised a pale and emaciated Hekmati confessing to the charges. Today, 9 January 2012, Hekmati has been sentenced to execution.
“It has been 126 days since Amir Hekmati was detained by the Iranian government after having been granted permission by Iranian authorities to enter to visit his beloved family,” the family said in their statement from 3 January 2012. “[W]e believe the allegations made against Amir are false and believe that the purported confession was not voluntary and was made under severe duress.”
“The judiciary has claimed Amir Hekmati is a spy, citing evidence that only they are aware of,” said Ghaemi. “That evidence should be made public and the judiciary should be completely transparent. If such an accusation were based on credible evidence, there would be no reason to hold his trial without adequate due process.”
Source: Iran Human Rights, January 10, 2012
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