Balochistan People’s Party condemns the Islamic Republic of Iran for announcing the trial of the 13 Baloch behind closed doors and without access to defense lawyers, is clearing the way to execute them.

Below is an article published by Balochistan People’s Party:

Three people were hanged on Sunday 31st of May, three days after an explosion in Zahidan, the provincial capital of Balochistan, Iran, on 28th May 2009. They were charged for planning the attack and carrying out the explosion in the “Hosseiniye” adjacent to “Amirulmumeneen Mosque”.

The following is quoted from BBC’s Persian language service: “Iranian Official News Agency (IRNA) has quoted a  judge, whose name has not been disclosed, saying that the executed were not involved directly in the explosion but they had been arrested two days before the explosion occurred. However, the accused were interrogated and trialled the night between the 30th and 31st of May, and were executed immediately after being charged for facilitating the explosion”. This rapid trial shows the unjust treatment of the Baloch people by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

After this announcement, IRNA quoted Ebrahim Hamidi, chief justice of Sistan and Balochistan, saying that 13 people were under trial charged for drug smuggling, hostage taking and rebellion against the government.

According to “Balochistan Human Rights Activists” one of the persons who is being trialled is Mulavi Abed Goramzahi. Mulavi Goramzahi along with 4 other religious scholars and activists had been arrested on 16th June 2008. One of these arrestees, Mulavi Salahuldin was executed on 3rd March 2009.

According to “Hamoun” TV, local government TV station in Balochistan, two persons were hanged in central jail of Zahedan on 20th June. They were charged for drug smuggling and were trialled in closed court sessions without having access to defence lawyers. Furthermore, their names were not announced as it is usual in cases where the victims are political prisoners but have been trialled as criminals.
Twenty people were hanged in Rajai Prison in Karaj city on 2nd June 2009. According to Radio Balochi FM, three of them named Jamshed Khaleghdadi son of Gholam Mohammad, Najibullah Dardkashedeh Son of Mullah Safar and Khudabaksh Rigi were Baloch.

We believe that Islamic Republic of Iran by announcing the trial of the 13 Baloch behind closed doors and without access to defense lawyers, is clearing the way to execute them. We therefore appeal to the international community and the human rights organizations to urge the Islamic Republic of Iran to:

1. Hold open trials with access to defense lawyers for prisoners.

2. Stop taking forced confessions under inhumane tortures. Two prisoners Mr Abdul Hamed Rigi and Mulavi Abed Goramzahi have been shown on TV confessing to have committed crimes such as man slaughter, hostage taking, rebellion against the state and connections with western countries such as USA and the UK.

3. Free all political prisoners in Balochistan and else where in Iran.