Abolfazi Abedini Nasr: Free the Prisoner of Conscience

          
          ABOLFAZI
          ABEDINI NASR
          IRAN
          ONE YEAR ON
          FREE
          THE PRISONERS
          _____________ OF CONSCIENCE
          AMNESTY
          INTERNATIONAL
        

          
          PLEASE HELP
          ABOLFAZI ABEDINI NASR
          Abolfazi Abedini Nasr, a 28-year-old freelance journalist
          and human rights activist from the southern province of
          Khuzestan, is a prisoner of conscience held in [ yin Prison,
          Tehran. He is serving an 11-year sentence imposed for
          peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of expression and
          association. He is also facing further unknown charges.
          Abolfaz l Abed mi Nasr is a former public relations officer of
          the non-governmental organization Human Rights Activists
          in Iran, which investigates and publicizes human rights
          violations, and a member of the Pan-Iranist party, a banned
          political opposition party. On several occasions newspapers
          have fired him under pressure from the authorities. He was
          first detained for five months in 2005. He spent a further four
          months in detention between November 2007 and February
          2008 in connection with his reporting of the labour dispute at
          the state-run Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company. He was
          sentenced in December 2007 to one year's imprisonment in
          relation to his reporting but this is believed to have been
          overturned on appeal.
        

          
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          HI
          ‘What crime has he committed that he
          deserves to be tortured? Is defending the
          rights of Haft Tapeh factory workers,
          drivers' union workers, and other
          organizations a crime?'
          Asareh Eyvazi, Abolfazi Abedini Nasr's mother, in a lefferto Iran's Head of fhe
          Judiciary, April 2010
          Eighteen days after the disputed 12 June 2009 presidential
          election he was again arrested. Nearly four months later, on
          26 October, he was released on bail from Sepidar Prison,
          Ahvaz. He was beaten by security officials during his rearrest
          at his home in Ramhormuz, Khuzestan province on 3 March
          2010, during a wave of arrests of human rights activists. Four
          days later he was taken to Evin Prison.
          His 11-year prison sentence relates to charges brought
          against him after his arrest in 2009. He was sentenced in
          March 2010 to five years for Ucontacts with enemy states”,
          five years for ‘membership of an illegal organization” in
          relation to his involvement with the organization Human
          Rights Activists in Iran and one year for “propaganda against
          the system” for talking to foreign media.
          Abolfaz l Abed mi Nasr has a heart defect that requires
          medication and frequent check-ups.
        

          
          ACT NOW
          WRITE POLITELY WORDED LETTERS
          TO THE HEAD OF THE JUDICIARY:
          • calling for Abolfazi Abedini Nasrto be
          released immediately and unconditionally as
          he is a prisoner of conscience, held solely for
          peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of
          expression and association;
          • urging the Iranian authorities to ensure
          that while imprisoned, Abolfaz l Abedini Nasr
          is granted access to his family, his lawyer
          and to adequate medical care;
          • calling for an immediate, thorough and
          impartial investigation into reports that
          Abolfaz l Abedini Nasr was beaten during
          arrest and for anyone found responsible for
          torture or other ill-treatment to be brought to
          justice promptly and fairly.
          Send your letters to:
          Head of the Judiciary
          Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
          Office of the Head of the Judiciary
          Pasteur Street, Vali Asr Avenue, south of
          Serah-e Jomhouri
          Tehran, 1316814731
          Islamic Republic of Iran
          Salutation: Your Excellency
          Email: info@dadiran.ir, bia.judi@yahoo.com
          (in the subject line: FAO Ayatollah Larijani)
          Amnesty International
          International Secretariat
          Peter Benenson House
          AlViN ESTY 1 Easton Street www.amnesty.org
          London WC1X ODW May 2010
          INTERNATIONAL United Kingdom Index: MDE 13/039/2010