Press Release
March 4, 2010
Over the past few days, following the release of a number of political prisoners and, as the year 1388 comes to an end, we have witnessed a new wave of arrests by judicial and intelligence authorities. Based on what is known, the arrests were clearly extrajudicial in nature and, in many cases, were made without the knowledge of proper judicial authorities.
According to reports received by RHRAI and published on its website, in the past two days, Navid Khanjani, Behzad Mehrani, Hesam Firoozi, Abolfazl Abedini, Mahboobeh Karami and Nasour Taghipour have been taken into custody.
Navid Khanjani
Member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Navid Khanjani was arrested on in Isfahan on Tuesday. He was subsequently taken to the Prosecutor’s Office in Isfahan and transferred to Tehran’s Evin Prison afterwards. 6 other members of the organization, Shiva Nazar Ahari, Mehrdad Rahimi, Koohyar Gudarzi, Saeed Kalanaki, Saeed Jalalifar and Saeed Ha’eri are currently detained in the same prison.
Behzad Mehrani
Journalist, blogger and independent human rights activist
Behzad Mehrani was arrested in Tehran on Wednesday by intelligence agents who took him to an undisclosed location. A few hours after the arrest, another group of agents attempted to arrest Mehrani’s at his house. The agents left when they were told about Mehrani’s arrest earlier in the day. The incident is a clear proof of extrajudicial nature of the arrests that are done without the knowledge of judicial authorities.
Dr. Hesam Firoozi
Blogger and independent human rights activist
Hesam Firoozi was arrested by intelligence agents on Tuesday as he was entering his house in Tehran. Dr. Firoozi’s nephew, Alireza has been detained for over two months along with his friend Sourena Hashemi. The Judiciary has refused until know to accept responsibility for their arrests despite the fact both activists are reportedly held in Tehran’s Evin Prison. In another case of extrajudicial arrest, the agents who arrested Dr. Firoozi also raided the house of one his neighbors and arrested Hemaseh Ghafari who is an ordinary citizen.
Mahboobeh Karami
Member of the 1Million Signatures Campaign
Mahboobeh Karami was arrested at her home on Tuesday and taken to an undisclosed location.
Abolfazl Abedini
Human rights activist and member of the Pan Iranist Party
Abolfazl Abedini was arrested by the IRGC Intelligence at his home in the southern province of Khuzestan on Wednesday. In the days that preceded the arrest, Abedini had been repeatedly harassed and threatened by intelligence authorities.
Nasour Naghipour
Cultural activist and blogger
Nasour Naghipour’s activities were limited to the cultural fields. There were no grounds for his arrest by law enforcement agencies.
RHRAI condemns the detention of human rights activists and expresses grave concerns over the extrajudicial nature of the arrests, which were made without adequate warrants and knowledge of proper judicial authorities. The recent unlawful arrests will further escalate an already disastrous situation that has deprived Iranians of their rights as citizens of the country.
Furthermore, RHRAI condemns the 2-month long extrajudicial detention of Alireza Firoozi and Sourena Hashemi and urges judicial and intelligence authorities to be accountable and give clear answers regarding the condition and fates of the 2 activists.

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