Two Political Prisoners Arrested After Elections Executed
The Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency (IRNA) reported on the execution of two political prisoners, Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haji Aghaee. One of the pieces of evidence introduced by the Iranian Judiciary about the two individuals’ death sentences is their having sent photographs and videos of post-election protests to recipients abroad and to the Mojahedin-e Khalgh Organization (MEK).
In a telephone interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Jafar Kazemi’s wife said that when she went to visit her husband at Evin Prison a few hours ago, she was informed that he had been executed earlier this morning. “They executed him without informing us or his lawyer. They took my husband last week and asked him to give a [television] interview. The interrogator told him ‘whether or not you give an interview, you will be executed in less than a week.’ My husband did not agree to give the interview. They took him from there to the Sentence Implementation Unit, where they put a noose around his neck, but then they changed their mind and returned him [to his cell]. This is supposed to have been a miracle,” Roudabeh Akbari told the Campaign.
The Prosecutor’s website identified the two individuals as members of an active network of the MEK in Iran. However, Jafar Kazemi’s wife told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that he was not a member of the organization. Mrs. Kazemi said that much like many other citizens, her husband had engaged in sending photographs and videos of the protests. The Tehran Prosecutor has claimed that the executed individuals were in touch with what they call “their contact points inside England.”
Regarding Jafar Kazemi, the Prosecutor’s statement said: “Convict Jafar Kazemi, while establishing contact with the head of the MEK network inside the country, participated in actions such as soliciting and collecting financial aid, and propagation activities in favor of the said grouplet, and has taken his children to Iraq. In his confessions, Kazemi accepted affixing photographs regarding his support of the terrorist grouplet of MEK, video recording and photographing Enghelab Avenue and Azadi Square gatherings along with another one of his co-conspirators and interviewing with the families of some who have been deceived by the MEK inside Camp Ashraf.”
“They hanged him at 4:00 a.m., because they perform [the executions] early in the morning. They had no evidence, only a few photographs or videos taken and sent during the post-election gatherings. Is the punishment for this the death penalty? According to their own Constitution…punishment for someone who propagates against the regime is one to six years in prison. Look at the sentences they have been handing out. But God is great and he is up there, and he will seek my and my children’s revenge,” said the political prisoner’s wife.
The Prosecutor’s statement says about Haj Aghaee: “According to his confessions, Haj Aghaee had a record of comings and goings to the MEK grouplet’s base called [Camp] Ashraf inside the Iraqi soil, and while he stayed there for several months, he once received $3,000 from the MEK, and passed training sessions there. In his confessions, he also accepted propagation activities for helping the MEK, such as affixing the grouplet’s leader’s message on a bulletin board in a mosque, and filming slogans written on walls. He was first arrested in 1984 on charges of providing financial assistance to the MEK, and distributing the grouplet’s newspaper. He also took several trips to Iraq and the MEK’s base, even intending to stay in their camp, but he was not admitted because of old age.”
