Despite Jail Time, Journalist Remains Defiant, Calls for Election Boycott

Golnaz Esfandiari, Nazi Azima and Mina Baharmast, Radio Free Europe:

Akbar Ganji remains defiant after having spent five years in prison -- including several months in solitary confinement. Ganji held a press conference at his home shortly after his release on 29 May. He told journalists that his time in prison has made him even more determined to push for democratic changes in Iran. He said, "Even if I have to spend the rest of my life in prison, I will not change my views."

He was temporarily released after he threatened he would indefinitely continue his hunger strike to protest against his detention conditions. READ MORE

In recent years, going on hunger strike has become a last resort for many Iranian political prisoners seeking to highlight their situations and to gain more rights.

Ganji said on 30 May that while he was not physically tortured in prison, he was placed under psychological pressure. He said he was denied rights granted to other prisoners. He called his imprisonment illegal and unfair and said that "all writers, journalists, and web bloggers who are in jail" should be released. He said they have expressed their views without resorting to violence.

Several human rights groups, academics, and activists -- including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi -- had expressed concern over Ganji's deteriorating health and called for his release.

Ganji said he suffers from asthma and back pain.

French media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on EU foreign ministers and on Javier Solana, the EU's high representative for common foreign and security policy, to put pressure on Iran regarding Ganji's case. RSF is calling for an unconditional and definitive release of Ganji.

RSF spokesman Reza Moini says several factors contributed to Ganji's temporary release. "All observers should first consider Akbar Ganji's state and see what could have been the consequences of a person who goes on a hunger strike and is determined to continue [the strike] until [death]," Moini said. "I have no doubt that the Islamic Republic feels endangered in the current situation and I'm glad it takes some matters into consideration. In this case international pressures -- extensive activities by web bloggers and journalists [have also had an impact]. It was a big campaign for Akbar Ganji."

Other observers have suggested that Iranian leaders are showing leniency toward dissidents ahead of the country's presidential elections, in order to encourage people to vote. Ganji seemed to lend credence to this view when he said on 30 May that the presidential elections could be one of the reasons for his release.

Ganji was jailed for 10 years in 2001 on charges ranging from harming Iran's national security to spreading lies against the Islamic Republic and its leaders. His sentence was reduced to six years on appeal.

His book, "The Dungeon of Ghosts," is a collection of his articles on the serial killings of dissidents and intellectuals in Iran. In the bestseller, Ganji implicated Iran's former President and current presidential candidate Hashemi-Rafsanjani, former Intelligence Minister Ali Falahian, and several other conservative officials in the killings of four opposition leaders and writers in 1998.

RSF's Moini praises Ganji's courage and journalistic commitment in probing the sensitive issue of political murders.

"In his articles Ganji had written not only about the serial murders but he had also focused on the issue of political crimes. In relation to this he didn't just mention the four cases of murders that were recognized by the court -- but he mentioned more than 80 political murders inside and outside Iran. The issue of impunity from justice among leaders in Iran is important. It has always been [important], and Mr. Ganji -- and I also have to mention [prominent Iranian journalist] Emadeddin Baghi -- have made great efforts in [addressing] this," Moini said.

Mehrdad Mashayekhi, a professor of sociology at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., is one of 60 professors who had called for Ganji's release in an open letter. Mashayekhi said Ganji is a very influential figure in Iran's cultural and political scene. "He is one of the few people who started human rights activities in Iran," Mashayekhi said. "His disclosures about the serial murders [of intellectuals] and his courage are brilliant. He is also significant as a writer and also as someone who has [brought] many new terms into Iran's political literature."

It is not clear yet how long Akbar Ganji will be allowed to remain out of prison for medical treatment. Some Iranian papers have written that his leave will be extended indefinitely and that he will be freed. Ganji said on 30 May that he has not accepted "any conditions" to being granted leave. (Golnaz Esfandiari with Radio Farda correspondent Nazi Azima)

...AND CALLS FOR ELECTION BOYCOTT IN RADIO FARDA INTERVIEW. In an exclusive interview with Radio Farda, Ganji pointed to several factors he says makes elections under Iran's current laws and system meaningless.

He refers to the right of the Guardian Council - the country's powerful constitutional watchdog -- to disqualify candidates considered un-Islamic or not loyal to the Islamic establishment. "The election process is unfair and undemocratic. Those who are not of the same mind as the regime are being eliminated. Many parts of the society are being eliminated illegally in the beginning of the [election] process. Therefore, this process -- apart from its other problems -- will not be a process of free elections."

Out of more than 1,000 candidates who submitted applications to run in the upcoming presidential elections, only eight have been approved. Two candidates from the reformist camp were reinstated only after Iran's Supreme Leader urged the conservative Guardian Council to review their applications.

Ganji told Radio Farda that, under Iran's current state structure, the president has almost no power. Therefore, he says, there is no point in electing a new president. "I say even if we consider these elections as free -- which they are not -- the other issue is that the person who would be the next president, the product and the result of the elections -- even if he's a reformist -- in the power structure he is good for nothing; because the real power is in the hand of the leader, the judiciary, the parliament, the [Revolutionary] Guards, the Basij [volunteer militia force] and other organs," he said. "In this framework, what will [the president] achieve? What can he do? The Guardians Council, the Expediency Council -- they will all stand against him."

Ganji also noted what he called President Mohamed Khatami's failure to deliver on his promises of reform and change during his eight years in office.

Earlier this month, Ganji wrote in the second part of his "Manifesto of Republicanism" that an election boycott is a step toward democracy in Iran. He has called for civil disobedience and noncooperation. The first and second parts of the book have been widely published on Iranian news websites.

Ganji said an election boycott would be a blow to the legitimacy of Iran's establishment: "The transition to democracy in different regimes has different prices. In dictatorships, this transition requires noncooperation with the self-ruler and delegitimizing him," he said. "No despot has ever given up his power willingly."

He says the transition to democracy in Iran should be achieved without violence.

Iranian reformists say the power of unelected bodies, such as the Guardians Council, should be limited. The head of Iran's main pro-reform party, Mohammad-Reza Khatami, has said, "In our country, we have two power structures and preserving the democratic one is a major step toward establishing democracy."

Ganji, however, rejects such calls and says that, under Iran's current political system and constitution, real democracy cannot be achieved. "Those who are theoretically and practically committed to Iran's constitution, if they go after reforming the current ruling establishment, maybe they are taking the right way," he said. "But if someone's main concern is democracy and establishing a democratic regime that is bound to human rights, then that person would not be willing to reform the establishment; his main issue would be how to move from an un-democratic regime to a democratic regime. And I've written in the first and second 'Manifesto' that under the current regime I have no hope for any reform leading to a transition toward a democratic system."

Ganji says his views have become more radical through the years spent in prison. On 31 May, he told reporters in Tehran that, even if he had to spend the rest of his life in prison, he would not change his views.

(Golnaz Esfandiari with Radio Farda's Mina Baharmast)

It is being reported that Ganji went further today in the Persian media. The reports I have received by other dissidents claim Akbar Ganji reportedly said:

"His highness (Khamenei) has been rulling for 15 years. It's enough. this is not democracy."

They further claim Ganji insulted the "supreme leader" and will continue to say what he thinks even if he has to stay in jail until death. He also said he has not made any "deal" to get out of jail for his health. They clain there is a new movement of intellectual and reformist creating a new political front called the Front for democracy and Human Rights.

Another source said:

"Ganji is attacking Khamenei and asking him to resign."

I will provide more links to these reports as soon as possible.