ياشاسين آذربايجان - Long live Azerbaijan

Reza Abbasi was arrested on 27 June 2006, after he failed to comply with a telephoned order to attend an Intelligence Ministry facility for interrogation. On 12 May the state-owned daily newspaper Iran had published a cartoon which many in the Iranian Azerbaijani community found offensive, and this had led to widespread demonstrations, and Reza Abbasi’s arrest may have been linked to these. It may also have been connected with the annual Babek Castle gathering

PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/128/2006

28 November 2006

Further Information on UA 246/06 (MDE 13/101/2006, 12 September 2006) – Fear for safety/Unfair trial/

possible prisoner of conscience

IRAN Reza Abbasi (m), human rights defender

Human rights defender Reza Abbasi was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment in mid-October: six months for “insulting the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran“ and another six months for “propaganda against the system”. He has been held in Zenjan Central Prison since his arrest in June, and has spent at least two months in solitary confinement. The Zenjan office of the Ministry of Intelligence has reportedly been harassing Reza Abbasi’s family: this has included repeatedly summoning his elderly parents for interrogation and ordering them not to tell anyone about their son’s situation.

Amnesty International believes Reza Abbasi is a prisoner of conscience, held solely on account of his peaceful activities on behalf of the Iranian Azerbaijani community in Iran.

Reza Abbasi is a founder member of an organization which has been active in promoting democracy and human rights, ASMEK (Committee for the Defence of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners) and of the Alumni Association of Iran (Sazman-e Danesh Amukhtegan-e Iran-e Eslami (Advar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat). On 17 December 2005, Reza Abbasi made a speech at Zenjan University in which he strongly criticized the Iranian authorities. ASMEK was founded in around 2002, and has come under pressure from the authorities. Four of its founding members, including Reza Abbasi, are said to have been detained in April 2004.

Reza Abbasi was arrested on 27 June 2006, after he failed to comply with a telephoned order to attend an Intelligence Ministry facility for interrogation. On 12 May the state-owned daily newspaper Iran had published a cartoon which many in the Iranian Azerbaijani community found offensive, and this had led to widespread demonstrations, and Reza Abbasi’s arrest may have been linked to these. It may also have been connected with the annual Babek Castle gathering, which was to take place on 30 June. Thousands of Iranian Azerbaijanis gather every year to celebrate the birthday of Babek Khorramdin, who lived in the ninth century and is regarded as a hero by Iranian Azerbaijanis. The authorities have often tried to suppress these gatherings, and this year the security forces were reported to have arrested a number of people before it took place, possibly to prevent certain activists from attending.

Read all… [1] www.hr.baybak.com/?p=36

[2] Print

• 20/05/2007 Iran: Further information on fear for safety/ Unfair trial/ Possible prisoner of conscience: Reza Abbasi (m)
• 08/12/2006 APPEAL CASE, Reza Abbasi: Iranian Azerbaijani Human Rights Defender
• 04/09/2006 A report to Amnesty International about Reza Abbasi
• 24/12/2008 COMMUNICATION 1: CAMPAIGNING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS OF MR. ABDULLAH ABBASI JAVAN– A SOUTHERN AZERBAIJANI HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
• 07/02/2007 IRAN Saleh Kamrani (m), lawyer and human rights defender, aged about 35
• 27/06/2006 Iran: Further information on Fear of “disappearance”/fear for safety/health concern/possible prisoner of conscience: Saleh Kamrani (m), lawyer and human rights defender, aged about 34
• 27/10/2006 Reza Abbasi, a Zanjani journalist and South Azerbaijani activist, sentenced to one year in prison
• 22/09/2006 Minorities Persecuted In Iran, Voice of America interviews Fakhte Zamani one of S Azerbaijani human rights activists
• 23/08/2007 Saleh Kamrani (m), aged about 35, lawyer and human rights defender, Prisoner of Conscience/Fear of torture or ill-treatment/Medical concern
• 21/12/2006 APPEAL CASE, Saleh Kamrani, an Iranian Azerbaijani lawyer and human rights defender

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