Posts
RAHANA
After a lengthy process by the judiciary, Majid Tavajoli’s family was finally able to visit him in prison.
During the visit, Majid Tavakoli told his family that, despite having made repeated requests in writing to the prison and judicial authorities, he is still being denied his rights, including the right to make phone calls. The student activist also voiced a strong objection to his unlawful and ongoing confinement in solitary confinement.
According to a RAHANA reporter, prison officials refused to accept clothing and other personal items brought by Tavakoli’s family.
Majid Tavakoli was arrested on December 7, 2009 (Student Day) after giving a speech at Amir Kabir University. Of the 130 days of detention leading up to his trial, the student activist was held in solitary confinement for 120 days. Now, three months after his trial, and despite having been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison, Tavakoli is still being illegally held in solitary confinement in ward 240 of Evin prison. He is not allowed to make phone calls and is denied access to newspapers, books, and papers and pens.
According to Majid Tavakoli’s lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, he and his client have prepared the appeal arguments they plan to present to court.
According to the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, given that Tavakoli was not represented by a lawyer during his first trial, his lawyer hopes the Supreme Administrative Court will order a new trial.
The lawyer also objected to the disregard by judicial authorities of the Constitution – Article 35 in particular – which sets the presence of a lawyer as a precondition for all court hearings.
At the end of Tavakoli’s first trial that took place at branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, he was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison, a five-year ban from political activities, and a five-year ban from traveling abroad.
0 comments:
Post a Comment