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RAPID
ACTION NETWORK 04
June 2008 Update
#2 to RAN 30/07 IRAN: Journalist’s Trial Opens Amid Health Concerns The
Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is seriously concerned for
the health of Iranian Kurdish journalist Mohammad
Sadiq Kabudvand, who reportedly suffered a stroke
in Evin prison on 19 May 2008 and has been denied access to adequate
medical care. He has been held since 1 July 200 on
charges of ‘acting against
national security’. His trial reportedly began on 25 May 2008. International
PEN is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of writer
Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations
International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). International
PEN seeks assurances of his well being, guarantees that his basic rights are
being respected and that he is given full access to all necessary medical
care as a matter of urgency. Background
According
to PEN’s information, Mohammad
Sadiq Kabudvand, editor of the banned weekly Payam-e mardom-e Kurdestan, was arrested on 1 July 2007 at his place
of work in Tehran by plain-clothed security officers. Following his arrest,
Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand was initially taken to his house in Tehran, where
security officers confiscated three computers, books, photographs and
personal documents, before taking him away to the Intelligence Ministry’s
Section 209 of Evin Prison, where he is said to have been ill-treated. He is
believed to have had no contact with his family since his arrest. No reason
has been given for his arrest, although it could be linked to a previous
one-year prison sentence which he has never served. His family has been
unable to raise the bail that could have enabled him to be freed pending
trial. ‘Chair
of the Kurdish Human Rights Organization (RMMK) based in Tehran, Mohammad
Sadiq Kabudvand, is also the editor of Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdestan (Kurdistan
People’s Message) a weekly published in Kurdish and Persian, which was
banned on 27 June 2004 after only 13 issues for ‘disseminating separatist
ideas and publishing false reports’. Convicted of ‘disseminating tribal
issues and publishing provocative articles’ and ‘spreading lies with the
intention of upsetting public opinion’ by a Revolutionary Court in
Sanandaj, western Iran, Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand received on 18 August 2005
a suspended prison sentence of 18 months, and a five-year ban on working as
a journalist. His conviction was reportedly upheld on appeal, but the
suspended prison sentence was increased to one year’s actual imprisonment.
In September 2006 he was summoned to begin his prison sentence, but remained
free pending an appeal against his conviction to the Supreme Court.’ Kabudvand
has reportedly written two books on democracy and a third on the women’s
movement in Iran, which were not given publishing licences. RECOMMENDED
ACTION Please
send appeals: ·
Expressing
serious concerns for the health of journalist and writer Mohammad Sadiq
Kabudvand, and reports that he is denied access to necessary medical care; ·
Calling
for his immediate and unconditional release on humanitarian grounds and in
accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory; ·
Expressing
concerns at the apparent pattern of repression against journalists and human
rights activist in Kurdish Iran. APPEALS
TO: Supreme
Leader of the Islamic Republic His
Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei, The
Office of the Supreme Leader Shoahada
Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran Email:
info@leader.ir or istiftaa@wilayah.org
Head
of the Judiciary His
Excellency Ayatollah
Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Ministry
of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran Email:
via Judiciary website: Iranjudiciary.org/feedback_en.html Salutation: Your Excellency Minister
of Intelligence Gholam
Hossein Mohseni Ejeie Ministry
of Intelligence, Second
Negarestan Street, Pasdaran
Avenue, Tehran Islamic
Republic of Iran. Email:
iranprobe@iranprobe.com COPIES
TO: President: His
Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad The
Presidency, Palestine
Avenue, Azerbaijan
Intersection, Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran Fax:
Via Foreign
Ministry: +98 21 6 674 790 (mark:
"Please forward to H.E. President Ahmadinejad") Email:
dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
via
website: www.president.ir/email Kurdistan
Human Rights Organization If
possible please send a copy of your appeal to the diplomatic representative
for Iran in your country. ***Please
check with this office if sending appeals after 20 June 2008***
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