Three Iranian journalists sentenced

          
          Further information on IJA: 171/09 Index: MDE 13/002/2010
          Date: 8 January 2010
          URGENT
          ACTION
          THREE IRAN IAN JOURNALISTS SENTENCED
          Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i and Saeed Laylaz have been sentenced to prison terms, Bahman
          Ahmadi Amou'i also to flogging. Keyvan Samimi Behbehani remains in solitary confinement. All
          three men are prisoners of conscience.
          Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i, an editor at the business daily paper Sarmayeb which was closed by the authorities on 2
          November, was sentenced to seven years and four months' imprisonment and 32 lashes on 4 January 2010 by a
          Revolutionary Court in Tehran. The sentence includes five years for ‘colluding with intent to harm national security;”
          one year for “propaganda against the system;” one year and 32 lashes for “disrupting public security' and four
          months for “insulting the president.” His lawyer is lodging an appeal within the required 20 days and will request his
          release on bail until the appeal is heard. He is held in Section 350 of Evin Prison.
          Saeed Laylaz, also an editor at Sarmayeh, was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment by a Revolutionary Court in
          Tehran on 2 December 2009 after he was convicted of “attending illegal gatherings” and “possessing classified
          documents.” His lawyer has said that that his client had access to information that had been posted online and
          therefore not classified information. Saeed Laylaz has been refused bail and remains held in Evin Prison.
          The editor of the banned magazine Nameh, Keyvan Samimi Behbehani, was granted 10 days' leave from prison on 9
          December in order to attend his daughter's wedding. He has since returned to Evin Prison where he is held in
          solitary confinement in Section 209.
          PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
          v Calling on the authorities to release Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i, Saeed Laylaz and Keyvan Samimi Behbehani
          immediately and unconditionally, as they are being detained solely for their peaceful exercise of the right to freedom
          of expression;
          v Expressing concern that Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i has been sentenced to flogging, a cruel punishment which
          amounts to torture, and noting that Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
          (ICCPR) which strictly prohibits torture;
          v Urging the authorities to ensure they are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated, and that reports of torture or other ill-
          treatment are thoroughly investigated and anyone found responsible is brought to justice in fair proceedings.
          PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 19 FEBRUARY 2010 TO:
          Leader of the Islamic Republic
          Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
          The Office of the Supreme Leader
          Islamic Republic Street— End of
          Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran,
          Islamic Republic of Iran
          Email: via webs ite: http:I/www.leader.ir/
          langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
          http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?
          p=letter (Persian)
          Salutation: Your Excellency
          MrAli RezaAvaei
          Karimkhan Land Avenue
          Sana'i Avenue, Corner of Alley 17,
          No 152
          Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
          Email: avaei@Dadgostary-tehran.ir
          Salutation: Dear Mr Avaei
          And copies to:
          Director. Human Rights Headquarters
          of Iran
          His Excellency Mohammad Javad
          Larijan i
          Bureau of International Affairs, Office
          of the Head of the Judiciary, Pasteur
          St., VaIl Asr Ave. south of Serah-e
          Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737,
          Islamic Republic of Iran
          Email: bia.iudi@vahoo.com
          Fax: + 98 21 5 537 8827 (please keep
          trying)
          Head of the Judiciary in Tehran
          Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above
          date. This is the third update to (JA 171/09 (MDE 13/062/2009). Further information: www.amnestv.org/en/librar v/info/MDE13/O62/2OO9 /
          , http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/M DE13/092/2009/en and http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/1 15/2009/en
          AMNESTY
          INTERNATIONAL
        

          
          Date: 8 January 2010
          URGENT ACTION
          THREE IRAN IAN JOURNALISTS SENTENCED
          ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
          Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i, husband of journalist Zhila Bani Ya'qoub (who was released on 19 August) has been held at [ yin Prison
          since his arrest on 20 June 2009. After 65 days of solitary confinement Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i was moved in late August to a
          cell in Section 209 of the prison, measuring 3.5 m 2 which he shared with two other detainees. Branch 2 of the Revolutionary
          Court acknowledged that they were investigating him at the beginning of October but as the investigation was still incomplete
          they would not allow his lawyer to see the investigation file.
          Saeed Laylaz had appeared before Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on 23 September to appeal against a two-
          month extension of his detention order but his appeal was rejected, despite an earlier order setting bail at two billion rials
          (approximately US$ 200,000).
          Following the Ashoura commemoration on 27 December, which also coincided with the seventh-day of mourning for Grand
          Ayatollah Montazeri, a senior dissident cleric who had died the week before, well over a thousand people are reported to have
          been arrested, including 500 in Tehran, 200 in Najafabad and 600 in Esfahan. They include at least fifteen journalists:
          Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, Morteza Kazemian, Keyvan Mehregan, Reza Tajik, Mostafa Izadi, Mohammad Javad Saber, Behrang
          Tonkabani, Arvin Sedagatkish, Roozbeh Karimi, Mohammadreza Zohdi, Ali Hekmat, Sam Mahmoudi and three women,
          Badrolsadat Mofidi, Negin Derakhshan and Nasrin Vaziri.
          Scores of people associated with opposition parties, human rights defenders and students are among many others detained since
          the demonstrations. The unrest on ‘Ashoura was one of the worst since the days following the June 2009 presidential election.
          The authorities have stated variously that between seven and fifteen people died, although have disputed that security forces
          .were responsible for all the deaths
          ‘Ashoura, the 10th day of the Islamic month of Moharram, is a Shi'a Muslim religious occasion marking the killing, or martyrdom,
          of Emam Hossein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.
          Since the announcement that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the 12 June election, which many people
          disputed, the authorities have used excessive force to quell largely peaceful protests. Before the recent demonstrations, the
          authorities acknowledged 36 deaths, while the opposition claims that over 70 have died. The authorities have acknowledged that
          over 4,000 were arrested, although the true figure may well be higher. Many of those detained were tortured or otherwise ill-
          treated in detention centres across the country. Some have alleged they were raped, although the authorities have denied this
          after cursory investigations and other measures which appear designed to hide, rather than uncover, the truth. Over 80 have been
          sentenced to prison terms or flogging in connection with the unrest, including those sentenced after mass “show trials” which
          began in August. At least seven have been sentenced to death — most recently Ahmad Karimi and Ali Zahed were sentenced to
          death at the end of December 2009.
          For further information about the post-election events please see Iran: Election contested, Repression compounded (Index MDE
          13/123/2009), December 2009, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/123/2009/en
          Further information on UA: 171/09 Index: MDE 13/002/2010 Issue Date: 08 January 2010
          AMNESTY
          INTERNATIONAL