Quoting the General and Revolutionary Courts of Tehran, IRNA News Agency reported on Sunday that the case file of Kouhyar Goudarzi, member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters has been submitted to the courts along with his indictment. Mina Jafari, Goudarzi’s lawyer told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that she has not been able to have access to her client’s case information. She said that Goudarzi’s file was initially at the Evin prison court branch and she was not able to review it. In her later followups, however, it turned out that his case file had been sent to Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Salavati, for trial scheduling. Mina Jafari told the Campaign: “In my follow-ups so far, first I went to the Computer Unit of the Revolutionary Couts and they told me to go to Branch 7 of Investigations. But Branch 7 of Investigations disavowed any knowledgeabout this case. In the end, I realized that my client’s case has been referred to the Evin Prison court branch and considering the current circumstances, my client and I have practically been deprived of access to the file and the ability to review its contents. Such treatment questions even the most fundamental elements of justice and denies the prisoners the possibility of a fair trial.” Kouhyar Goudarzi, a human rights activist, was transferred to Ward 350 of Evin Prison. Prison authorities did not allow him to visit with his mother on Thursday, April 8, 2010. The civil activist’s mother, Parvin Mokhtare, told International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that she went to Evin Prison last Thursday to visit with her son, but prison authorities did not permit Goudarzi to visit with his mother. Earlier, there were reports about the poor conditions of Ward 350 due to congestion and lack of medical and hygienic care. In his last telephone contact, Goudarzi has stated that he can have more telephone calls now. Previously and during his more than 100 days’ detention, Kouhyar Goudarzi was only allowed three telephone calls to his mother, only two of which were completed as a third time his mother was not home to answer the telephone, according to Goudarzi’s mother. Goudarzi’s transfer to Ward 350 takes place while he has had six cell changes over the recent few weeks. Parvin Mokhtare told the Campaign: “As soon as my son gets used to a new environment, they switch his cell and this treatment is a type of “torture.”” Also, according to Parvin Mokhtare, it is not clear where Kouhyar Goudarzi’s cellmate, Jafar Panahi, has been moved. Despite releases of several political prisoners during the days leading to Iranian New Year’s Day (March 21, 2010), Goudarzi was not only not released, pressure on him seems to have increased. Goudarzi’s mother said that prison authorities refused to accept clothes and books for him. Most other prisoners are allowed to have these items. Answering the question of whether Goudarzi might be released on bail soon, Parvin Mokhtare replied: “During his telephone contact, Kouhyar said that even after his trial session he will not be released and that the probability of his release is very low.” During the recent months and after the arrests of several Committee of Human Rights Reporters members, heavy charges such as moharebeh and relations with foreign organizations have been raised by case interrogators against the suspects. Parvin Mokhtare called these charges baseless and unfounded. The human rights activist’s mother said about her last visit with her son and the way Evin Prison officer treated her. “I asked the officer to return the visitation request form to me. I told him I collected them. He said that bad memories do not warrant a collection. I said but we collect bad memories, too. He replied by asking me whether I thought my son was a source of national pride for being in prison, making the forms worthy of a collection. I said yes, exactly, I think my son is a source of national pride.” Kouhyar Goudarzi’s mother expressed concern about her son’s indeterminate state and said that Kouhyar has not had any interrogations over the past month and remains in detention without a trial date. Background: On Sunday, December 20, 2010, a bus containing several social activists and families of political prisoners heading for Ayatollah Montazeri’s funeral in Qom was stopped at Enghelab Square by security forces. After 45 minutes of searching and confiscating identification cards and cellular phones of the passengers, Kouhyar Goudarzi, Shiva Nazar Ahari, Saeed Haeri, and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh were arrested. Last October, through pressure by security forces, Goudarzi was expelled from Sharif Industrial University. He was an aerospace student at Sharif. The journalist and human rights activist was formerly a member of the Sharif University Islamic Students Association, an editor of Committee of Human Rights Reporters, a producer for Radio Zamaneh, a member of The Human Rights Committee of Advar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat Alumni Association, and a member of Tahkim-e Vahdat student organization’s Allameh Faction. Source: http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2010/04/kouhyar-goudarzi-i-wont-be-released-anytime-soon-trial-date-unknown/
