Aug 18, 2008

Ahwazi: Urgent Action Needed To Release Writer


Active ImageAhwazi Yousuf Azizi, writer and human rights activist, has been sentenced to five years in prison by the Iranian government.

 

Below is an article published by the Ahwazi Human Rights Organization:

The subdivision 15 of the Islamic revolutionary court in Tehran has passed a 5-year prison sentence against the Ahwazi writer and journalist Yousif Azizi in connection with his alleged part in organising and instigating a demonstration by the Arab population in Ahwaz province against the Iranian regime in April 2005.
The demonstration was related to the revelation of a notorious document by Mr Abtahi, the then head of the president’s office,   in which a plan was envisaged on how to change the demographic nature of Ahwaz region.  The aim of the plan was to effectively rendering the Arab indigenous population from being a majority into a minority.

Back in 24 April 2005 the Iranian authorities had arrested Mr Azizi and he spent around 65 days in solitary confinement before being released on bail to the tune of one billion Iranian Rials [almost 71.000 Euro]. Since then he has constantly been under surveillance and harassment by the authorities.

Yousuf Azizi is a founding member of the union of Iranian writers and recently has joined its board of directors.  He is a well-known writer and journalist and a defender of human rights inside and outside of Iran, with many of his works being published and translated into Farsi, Arabic and other languages.

Mr Yousuf Azizi’s imprisonment and the danger to his life under these circumstances make it imperative to urge the Iranian government to annul this unfair sentence and reverse its decision according with human rights conventions and citizens’ human rights and freedoms.

 

APPEALS TO:

Leader of the Islamic Republic

His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected] (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Intelligence

Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:


President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected]
via website: www.president.ir/email

Speaker of Parliament
His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel

Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3355 6408
Email: [email protected] (Please ask that your message be brought to the attention of the Article 90 Commission)