Iran: charges

Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO) made an appeal to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to condemn the wave of executions in Iran and call upon Iranian authorities to halt the imminent execution of Hamzah Sawari, Zamel Bawi, Abdulemam Zaeri and Nazem Boryhi.
The charges against them include hoisting the Ahwazi flag, naming their children Sunni names, converting from Shi'ism to Sunnism and preaching Wahabbism and being "Mohareb" or enemies of god, which carries death sentence.
Other charges are "destabilizing the country", "attempting to overthrow the government", "possession of improvised explosives", "sabotage of oil installations" and being a "threat to national security".
Last year, Mr. Emadeldin Baghi, a leading Iranian human rights activist, wrote in a letter to Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, that the trials of Ahwazi Arabs were flawed and the charges baseless.
Mr. Nkbakht, a prominent defense lawyer in Iran, made a similar statement.
The EU, the UN, 48 British MPs, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned the trials as unjust and unfair and appealed for a halt to further execution.


The Iranian justice system has made public charges against journalists Ako Kurdnasab and Soheil Assefi, more than one month after the two were arrested.
Ako Kurdnasab of the weekly Karfto is according to his lawyer, accused of “espionage”, “acting against national security” and “attempting to overthrow the regime through his journalistic activities”.
Since July he is detained in Sanandajprison with no right to receive visitors.
Soheil Assefi, contributor to several media including online publication Roozonline,is since his arrest in August, detained in ward 209, Evinprison with no right to receive visits from either his family or his lawyer.
He is charged with “publishing false news likely to disturb public opinion”.
Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand, arrested July 1st, still does not know what charges he faces.
At the moment a total of ten journalists are currently behind bars in Iran,
18 September 2007, Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji handed a letter signed by 300 intellectuals to Lynn Pascoe, deputy secretary general at the UN political affairs department calling for an improvement in human rights Iran.
Noam Chomsky, Umberto Eco, Jurgen Habermass and Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor are among the signatories.
At the same time, a collective of more than 100 Iranian journalists released a statement protesting at “illegal pressure”.
Newspaper editors have said they will not accept “orders from judicial or security authorities instructing them to prevent some journalists from working.”


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl