Mar 10, 2008

Southern Azerbaijan: Free Lisani Now!


Detained, beaten, and now deported, it is time that the international community moves to ensure his release from Iranian abuse.

Detained, beaten, and now deported, it is time that the international community moves to ensure his release from Iranian abuse.

Below is a press release issued by the Committee for the Defense of Mr. Abbas Lisani:

Mr. Abbas Lisani, the prominent Azerbaijani activist, has now been arbitrarily banished by Iranian authorities. He is now believed to be sent out to a prison in Yazd, a city in Central Iran and remote from Ardabil, Mr. Lisani’s hometown in Azerbaijan of Iran. He was serving a 12 months prison term in a prison in the city of Ahar near his hometown.

Our reliable sources have confirmed that in the process of the extradition by force from Ahar prison, Mr. Lisani was subjected to physical violence by being battered and kicked. During the deportation he was handcuffed and shackled.

His wife, Mrs. Ruqeyye Lisani, expressed her deep concern about the events and stated that “this deportation to Yazd is an outright illegal act.”

According to her, “this deportation is another straw drawn by Iranian authorities to escalate their arbitrary treatment against Mr. Lisani. Now we are faced with long travel distances between Ardabil and Yazd to the extent that it will make our visits nearly impossible.”

She added, “Abbas has let it be known that he shall resort to a hunger strike as the last option remaining to him to protest against the ongoing arbitrary treatments.”

Our Committee is piecing together very muddled jigsaws of Iranian arbitrary acts. We now have reasons to believe that the Ministry of Information did not receive full cooperation from their local agents both in Ahar and Ardabil, where their failure to inflict the act of flogging on Mr. Lisani is a classic example of this lack of cooperation. Thus, they lacked full control over his case.

The deportation has been designed to overcome a number of weaknesses in the authority’s control over Mr. Lisani. In the first place, they are hoping to stop any information leakage. He will be kept among high-risk prisoners in Yazd; the Yazd prison authorities have been told to obey the higher authorities to the letter.

From now on, Mr. Lisani’s three young children will no longer be able to visit their dad, whose safety and wellbeing will be in the hands of unknown individuals.

We believe that the life of Mr Lisani is in great danger. We ask the entire international community to speak out on behalf of Mr. Lisani.