Saharkhiz’s Letter, Activists’ Disappearance

With the disappearance of one civil and political activist, one lawyer and the arrest of his family members, a new round of oppression has begun in Iran, showcasing the judicial and security officials’ utter disregard for the law. Nationalist-religious activist Hoda Saber has disappeared since Sunday and his wife, Farideh Jamshidi, told Rooz that she had not received a response from any government agency regarding her husband’s fate. Nothing is known of the fate of attorney Mohammad Mostafaei, while his wife and brother-in-law were also arrested on Sunday night.

Under these circumstances, Isa Saharkhiz released an open letter calling for the prosecution of those who ordered and carried out beatings against him during the past year, and Emadeddin Baghi was sentenced to imprisonment for one year and banned from political activism and journalism for five years for his work at the Association for Defense of Prisoners’ Rights.

Yesterday, in an exclusive interview with Rooz, Hoda Saber’s wife, Farideh Jamshidi, said, “We have no news of my husband since he left home at 6 o’clock on Sunday, and we are extremely concerned. No one is providing us with any information either.”

Mrs. Saber adds, “Last week agents went to his office but he wasn’t there and we don’t really know what they wanted. They called earlier and I talked to them. They asked me to tell Mr. Saber to come to the Revolutionary Court and serve his prison sentence issued in 2002. The day after the call, Mr. Sharif, my husband’s attorney, went to court and protested and said that judiciary authorities had to first issue a formal summons. He further said that Mr. Saber was not active during the time in question, and so there was absolutely no reason for his arrest.”

Mohammad Mostafaei’s wife Fereshteh Halimi and his brother-in-law, Farhad Halimi, were arrested around 11 p.m. on Sunday, while no information about Mohammad Mostafaei’s situation has been provided.

According to the Human Rights Reporters Committee, on Saturday Mohammad Mostafei appeared at the justice ministry’s office in the Evin Prison and was interrogated for four hours.

Then, on Sunday night, security agents visited Mohammad Mostafaei’s office with an arrest warrant, but weren’t able to arrest him because he was not present there.

Finally, last night at around 11 p.m., Fereshteh Halimi and her brother Farhad Halimi were arrested near Mohammad Mostafaei’s office and no information has been released about their whereabouts until now.

Emadeddin Baghi was sentenced to imprisonment for one year and banned from political activism and journalism for five years. The conviction relates to the case against him for his work at the Association for Defense of Prisoners’ Rights, and the journalist must await the court’s decision in another case related to his interview with ayatollah Montazeri, which was published on the BBC Farsi network.

Mohammad Reza Jalaeipour, the spokesperson for the Third Wave [a youth organization campaigning for Mohammad Khatami and Mir-Hossein Mousavi] was transferred to a prison in Mashad after spending 40 days in solitary confinement.