Soltani's Two- Month Solitary Confinement

Rooz Online: a pro-reformist website

The Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Iran has asked the Iranian government to release Abdolfattah Soltani as soon as possible. Soltani has been in solitary confinement prison for the past two months. The statement of the Association expresses concern that his detention there increases the likelihood of the use of force against him. READ MORE

Last week three international human rights organizations (FIDH, OMCT and LDDHI) issued a statement that expresses the concern of human rights activists and organizations about the prison conditions and the situation with Soltani’s detention, and call on the Iranian government to release him immediately. Soltani has been in prison for the second time since July 30, 2005.

Soltani was arrested after he protested the workings of Tehran Province’s judiciary, and specifically the activities of Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortezavi. His personal belongings were confiscated by Mortezavi’s office to which Soltani had protested. Soltani had also participated in a sit-in protest in front of the judiciary building, for which he was arrested and has been charged for. He has even been charged with “espionage” while no details of such accusations have been released to any one. These three organizations believe that the real reason why Soltani has been arrested is because of his defense and research in Ms Zahra Kazemi’s case. She was an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist who traveled to Iran from Canada and in July of 2003 was arrested while taking photographs in front of the infamous Evin prison. After her arrest she was tortured and announced dead by judiciary authorities. Soltani as the defense attorney hired by Kazemi’s family protested the workings of the judiciary and said there was a conflict of interest in their investigation over her death. This brought about his arrest. The international organizations have said that the violent nature of interrogations of Kazemi in Evin prison under the supervision of Mortezavi had a direct bearing on her death.

One of Soltani’s charges is that he claimed that the interrogations of Kazemi involved force and were violent in nature. Soltani was initially sentenced to four months of prison in the July of 2002, to be released in 2003 and then again arrested subsequently on more charges.