The Amnesty International Zurich English Group is campaigning on behalf of Iranian human rights defender and journalist Emadeddin Baghi. Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to grant him a fair trial and reminds the authorities that, as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is obliged to uphold Baghi’s right to freedom of expression and speech.
Arrest and imprisonment in December 2009
He was arrested in December 2009, the day after mass anti-government protests were held in Tehran and other cities. He was detained for over six months before being released from Tehran’s Evin prison on bail of 200 million Tomans (US$200,000) on 23 June 2010.
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.
Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to drop all charges against Baghi. If convicted and imprisoned, Amnesty International would consider him to be a prisoner of conscience.
Previous periods of imprisonment
Emadeddin Baghi has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned for his work as a human rights activist and journalist in Iran. He 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 1990s, which the government later attributed to “rogue elements” within the Intelligence Ministry.
He was also imprisoned in 2007-2008 after being found guilty of "printing lies" and "endangering national security" upon the publication of his book, The Tragedy of Democracy. During this time, 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.
Human rights activities
Emadeddin Baghi was the recipient of 2009’s Martin Ennals Award for human rights. He was unable to attend the award ceremony in Geneva in November 2009 due to a travel ban imposed on him by the Iranian authorities since October 2004. He was the first laureate in the prestigious award's 18-year history to be denied the opportunity to receive his prize in person. In April 2008 he was prevented from travelling to London to pick up another award, as the British Press awards International Journalist of the Year.
In addition to his work as a journalist, Emadeddin Baghi founded two non-governmental organizations: the Association to Defend Prisoners' Rights which comiples information on torture and other abuses against detainees, and the Society of Right to Life Guardians, which campaigns against the death penalty in Iran. Judicial officials closed down the office of the Association fort he Defence of Prisoners Rights in September 2009.
Emadeddin Baghi has the courage to stand up for his conviction that the Qur'an neither condones the death penalty nor arbitrary killings and detention. He has steadfastly tried to make his views public without ever advocating violence.
He and his family have been subject to a barrage of judicial and quasi-judicial measures but the force of his argument, based on religious and academic discourse, has also earned him respect among the clerics and some of his books and articles have been published in Iran.
For further information, please see:
Iranian Rights Defender Released on Bail: Emadeddin Baghi (Index MDE 13/068/2010), June 2010, Iranian Human Rights Defender Rearrested (Index MDE 13/003/2010), January 2010, From Protest to Prison: Iran One Year after the Election (Index MDE 13/062/2010), June 2010, and Iran: Election Contested, Repression Compounded (Index MDE 13/123/2009), December 2009.
