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INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGH
91UMAN RIEHI.S. IRAF
News Archive - 14th December 2009
No Evidence of Espionage in Tajbakhsh's File,
Lawyer Says
(14 December 2009) The case against the Iranian-American social scientist Kian 0 SHARE
Tajbakhsh contains no evidence to support the allegations against him, according to the
International Campaign forHuman Rights in Iran, following interviews with Masoud Shafie, Tajbakhsh's
lawyer.
Tajbakhsh has been sentenced to a 15-year pnson term for alleged espionage and actions against national
security by a lower court and is currently in the appeals stage. The case has also been substantially invalidated by
gross breaches of Iranian law and international standards for due process.
Shafie recently studied the entire file compiled by prosecutors against Tajbakhsh. There is apparently no
correlation between the evidence in his file and the conviction and sentencing of Tajbakhsh, while the file itself is
evidence of the blatantly political and arbitrary nature of the case. Espionage is closely defined under Iranian law,
and guilt needs to be established by evidence that highly confidential documents were passed to foreign
governments. There are no references to such documents in the file.
The file, only recently seen by Shafle, contains video clips of public demonstrations that Tajbakhsh allegedly
emailed which hardly qualifiy as confidential or classified government documents. Tajbakhsh had no access to
such documents in any event.
Shafle has been continually prevented from seeing his client. After he reviewed the file, he received permission
from the Revolutionary Court, branch 54, which is in charge of reviewing Tajbakhsh's case as the court of
appeal, to visit him in order to flnahze the defense statement.
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On 12 December, Evin prison authorities would not allow the visit. He was told to obtain permission from Judge
Salavati of branch 15 of the RevolutionaIy Court. But Judge Salavati, who presided over the lower court
sentencing Tajbakhsh, has no role in the appeals stage, based on applicable regulations.
The authorities in ward 2 A of Evin Prison, under Revolutionaiy Guard management, did not pemiit the visit. The
defense statement will need to be submitted without a prior meeting between lawyer and client, and their
communications have been limited to sporadic telephone calls and messages transmitted by other visitors.
Some of the more egregious violations of due process standards in this case include maintaining the defendant in
temporary detention, which violates both Article 182 and Article 37 of the Judicial Proceedings of Penal Courts
[ Aim Dacirasi Keyfari]. Under Iranian law, Tajbakhsh had the right to be released on bail after the primary
investigation of his case.
Moreover, in his file it is mentioned that Judge Salavati, had ordered his release on bail, stating that Tajbakhsh
had reftised the offer of bail, and accepted to go to prison, which is patently false.
The process also violated principle 139 of the Constitution and article 188 Judicial Proceedings of Penal Courts
which stipulate that a defendant is to remain anonymous until charges against him are approved by the court.
But charges against Tajbakhsh were publicized prior to their being approved by the court.
The charges against Tajbakhsh are without merit because they do not refer to cnminal acts. Under Article 2 of
the Islamic Penal Code, any actions that have not been identified as criminal may not be considered as the basis
for a criminal charge. This apphes to the acts for which Tajbakhsh is charged, including for example, working as
a consultant for the Open Society Institute (OSI), which is not a crime, Shafie said.
The indictment against Tajbakhsh descnbed his service as a consultant to the OSI, an intemational foundation, as
defacto seditious. But the activities of the OSI in Iran had been agreed to with the govemment of the Islamic
Republic under a memorandum that defined those activities, and no activities were performed by Tajbakhsh or
by the OSI that were not agreed to by Iranian officials, Shafie said. Furthermore, Tajbakhsh's consultancy with
OSI ended in 2007, well before the recent elections.
Finally, the indictment is ridden with factual errors that invalidate it. Among its unreal claims, for example, is that
the defendant participated in illegal demonstrations, and was arrested while committing this crime, while in fact
he was arrested on 9 July, 2009, at 21:00 at his home while he was with his wife.
The Campaign reiterates its appeal to the Judiciary to examine the case against Klan Tajbakhsh in view of the
numerous legal irregulanties and politicized charges that invalidate it, and to drop the charges so that he may
return to his family and scholarly career.
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