Judicial Authorities Refuse to Explain Travel Ban to Hassan Asadi Zeidabadi

Travel bans for Hassan Asadi Zeidabadi, Human Rights Secretary for Advar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat alumni organization, continue unexplained. In an interview with Advar News, Zeidabadi said: “I planned a trip to Geneva for a short academic training course on organizations that provide oversight to UN international human rights covenants. The travel ban orders were served to me a few hours before my trip.”

Zeidabadi’s appearance at the Prosecutor’s Office to find out reasons for his travel plan proved fruitless. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has confirmed that the Prosecutor’s orders served to Zeidabadi cited “an open case” as the reason for his travel ban. The order states that he is able to object to the ruling within the next 20 days by appearing at Evin Prison Special Courts, but authorities refused to answer Zeidabadi’s questions about the order.

In the interview with Advar News, Zeidabadi added, “Travel bans are issued as an added measure of assurance [against a suspect’s flight] under exceptional cases. When a prisoner is released on bail or guardianship orders, there is no justification for this added measure. I view this action as completely illegal, and a clear example of the violation of an individual’s rights, in the same way as depriving him from the right to an education or the right to free commute…This kind of behavior demonstrates that Iran’s rulers oppose human rights in all its dimensions. Perhaps they believe that one of my crimes is that I was educated in this country, using national resources, to study human rights. If this is the case, they should face the academic community more honestly, and officially close down the Graduate Program for Human Rights, which is a program established during the reform years.”