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AMNESTY
I NIERNATI ONAL ________________________
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Award-winning Irazilanjournalist released on bail An'niesty International ltp://wwwanmesty.org/en/mws-and-i,dates/award-winning-iranian-Jou.
> Home > Award-winning Iranian journalist released on bail
AWARD-WINNING IRANIAN JOURNALIST
RELEASED ON BAIL
23 June 2010
Amnesty
International
has called on
the Iranian
authorities to
drop all
charges
against the
prominent
journalist and
human rights
activist Emadeddin Baghi, following his release on bail on
Wednesday.
The recipient of 2009's Martin Ennals Award for human rights,
he had been detained since his arrest in December 2009.
He was released from Tehran's Evin prison on bail of 200
million Tomans (US$200,000).
Though released, he now faces additional charges of
undertaking “propaganda against the state” and “colluding to
commit acts against national security”.
The charges relate to an interview he conducted two years
earlier with a now deceased government critic and senior
cleric, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri.
He is due to face trial on the new charges on 7 July. Several
other cases are also pending against him. If convicted and
imprisoned, Amnesty International would consider him to be a
prisoner of conscience
‘The release of Emadeddin Baghi is a small step towards
ending injustice. Unfortunately hundred of others are
languishing in prisons and Baghi may yet be returned to the
infamous Evin prison where so many rights actitivists are
held,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's
Deputy Director of Middle East and North Africa.
“But Emadeddin Baghi has been repeatedly imprisoned and
released for his work. All conditions of this release must be
rescinded and the charges against him must be dropped.”
Emaddedin Baghi has been repeatedly
imprisoned and released for his work
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Award-winning Irazilanjournalist released on bail An'niesty International http://wwwanmesty.org/en/mws-and-i.dates/award-winning-iranian-Jou.
Emadeddin Baghi was arrested the day after mass
anti-government protests were held in Tehran and other cities
during the Shi'a religious occasion of Ashoura, in December
2009.
Afew days earlier, BBC Persian TV had aired an interview
Baghi had recorded two years earlier with Grand Ayatollah
Montazeri, to mark the cleric's death earlier that month.
Journalists have been subjected to a wave of arrests in Iran
following the 2009 post-election demonstrations, often being
detained in solitary confinement without charge or trial.
‘The Iranian authorities' crackdown on journalists and human
rights activists since the disputed 2009 election is a blatant,
but doomed, attempt to repress all criticism and cover up a
litany of abuses,” said Hassiba Hadj-Sahraoui.
“Iran must end the harassment of human rights defenders and
the criminalization of human rights activism.”
Over 100 journalists perceived as “reformist' are believed to
have been arrested following the 2009 demonstrations. At
least 40 of them remain detained, imprisoned or on temporary
leave at risk of return to prison. Others are free on bail,
awaiting trial.
There are frequent reports of further arrests, and the banning
of publications.
During a previous period of imprisonment in 2007-2008 prison
officials delayed granting Emadeddin Baghi urgently needed
medical treatment.
He was eventually granted medical leave, but he still suffers
from kidney, bladder and other problems arising from the
treatment he suffered. Before his release in 2008, Baghi
suffered three seizures and a heart attack.
Baghi has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned for his
work as a human rights activist and journalist in Iran. His
imprisonment in 2007 came after being found guilty of
“printing lies” and “endangering national security” upon the
publication of his book, The Tragedy of Democracy.
He also spent three years in prison between 2000 and 2003
after being convicted of “acting against national security” for
his writings about what became known as the serial murders
of dissident intellectuals in Iran in the late 1 990s, which the
government later attributed to “rogue elements” within the
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Award-winning Irazilanjournalist released on bail An'niesty International ltp://wwwanmestyorg/en/mws-and-i.dates/award-winning-iranian-Jou
Intelligence Ministry.
As well as the Association to Defend Prisoners' Rights,
Emadeddin Baghi also founded another non-governmental
organization, the Society of Right to Life Guardians, which
campaigns against the death penalty in Iran.
READ MORE
Iranian activist banned from receiving human rights
award in Geneva (News, 3 November 2009)
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