| Iran: Save the life of Valiollah Feiz-Mahdavi |
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| By the Iranian Revolutionary Socialist League | |
| Monday, 08 May 2006 | |
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Valiollah Feiz-Mahdavi is a 26-year-old man facing execution on 16 May 2006 in Iran. He was arrested in 2001 and charged with “undermining national security” and attempting to join the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran in Iraq. Since his arrest Feiz-Mahdavi has been kept in solitary confinement for 546 days, during which time he has been interrogated and subjected to severe physical and psychological torture. He has been kept in a little, dimly lit cell; and when moved for any purpose he is shackled, cuffed and blindfolded. There is a lot of concern among many young people and ordinary workers in Iran about the fate of this young man. The regime is using him as an example, as a warning against anyone who wishes to protest against the present brutal fundamentalist regime. Please take the time to send off protest letters to addresses provided below. Here we are publishing a statement by Valiollah Feiz-Mahdavi sent out from his cell, together with a model letter for you to sign. Comradely, Iranian Revolutionary Socialist League
Public statement of Valiollah Feiz-Mahdavi Warmest greetings to my dear compatriots in Iran and other countries! My name is Valiollah Feiz-Mahdavi. I was born on 25 January 1980. In autumn 2001 I was arrested by the Intelligence Ministry agents and charged with undermining national security and attempting to join the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran in Iraq. They kept me in solitary confinement for 546 days, during which time I was interrogated and subjected to severe physical and psychological torture. I was kept in a little, dimly lit cell; and when moved for any purpose I was shackled, cuffed and blindfolded. These were the hardest days of my life. On a number of occasions they woke me up in middle of the night, took me outside, and told me ‘say your last wish’. Then one of them would fire a shot. Thinking I was hit, I would spend a few minutes in a state of shock before being led back to my cell. After this hellish period, they arranged a trial for me. I was sentenced to death in a summary court presided over by a judge named Haddad and held at the 26th branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. At my sham trial I rejected all the charges and denounced the illegitimacy of the whole procedure where I had no legal representation and no jury was present. On the same day, as a punishment for my protests, I was transferred to a prison in Kermanshah (Dizelabad Prison), where I spent the next few months under harshest conditions. In March 2004 they returned me to Evin Prison in Tehran. But again, after a few months, because of an argument with Bakhtiari, the previous head of the National Organization of Prisons, I was sent to a prison in Karaj (Rajai Shahr). I remember on my arrival the then head of the prison, Maleki, told me: ‘none of your protests would leave the walls of this prison’. Ever since then I have been a target of threats and even assaults by ordinary prisoners, instigated by prison officials. Calling my days here ‘living’ would be an outright abuse of this word. Of course, this is the situation of all political prisoners here, and thus has to be considered ‘normal’ for them. A few days before the Iranian Year beginning on 21 March 2006 I was formally notified by the judiciary deputy of the prison that my death sentence will be carried out on 16 May 2006. But even before this official notice, both the head of the prison and the head of my section, Section 6, had on a number of occasions told me that my sentence would soon be carried out. Just last week the head of Section 6 summoned me to his office and, in an angry, threatening voice, told me: ‘why do you publicize your condition and sentence? It is not going to help you any more than it helped Hodjat Zamani’. My dear compatriots and friends, In the course of my struggle I learned that for freedom fighters it is not all that important to realise the ultimate aim of their efforts and sacrifice personally. What is paramount for them is steadfastness in struggle. I truly believe that freedom, democracy and justice are as vital to human life as the air one breathes. I thus permit myself to ask you not to abandon our just fight against the oppressive regime of the mollahs. I also have a few words for the leaders and minions of the regime: we will never resign ourselves to the ignominy of surrendering to your repressive dictatorship, even if it will cost us our lives. Long live an Iranian nation free from injustice, oppression and exploitation! Valiollah Feiz-Mahdavi (Rajai Shahr Prison, Iran)
Model letter of protest Dr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad President The Presidency Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection Tehran Islamic Republic of Iran xx May 2006 Dear Mr President I write to bring to your attention the urgent case of Valiollah Feiz-Mahdavi, a 26-year-old man facing execution on 16 May 2006. Mr Feiz-Mahdavi was arrested in 2001 and charged with undermining national security and attempting to join the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran in Iraq. Since his arrest Mr Feiz-Mahdavi has been kept in solitary confinement for 546 days, during which time he was interrogated and subjected to severe physical and psychological torture. He was kept in a little, dimly lit cell; and when moved for any purpose he was shackled, cuffed and blindfolded. On a number of occasions the prison authorities woke him up in middle of the night, took him outside, and asked him his ‘last wish’. Then one of them would fire a shot. After a few minutes, still in a state of shock, he would be led back to his cell. Since Mr Feiz-Mahdavi had no legal representation at his trial, and there was no jury present, it cannot be claimed that the court proceedings complied with the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Furthermore, his four and a half years detention would also contravene IRI laws and any sentence would become null and void. I therefore hope that you can bring the authority of your office to put pressure on the relevant officials and bodies in the judiciary and prison system to immediately and unconditionally: 1- Revoke Mr Feiz-Mahdavi's death sentence. 2- Release him from prison. 3- Allow international human rights and legal organisations to have full access to the evidence against Mr Feiz-Mahdavi and to assess appropriate further action according to the relevant international standards and IRI laws. I look forward to hearing about your positive intervention in this regard in the international media. Yours sincerely,
Dr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Please send a copy of your protest letters to:
UNHCHR
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
International Society for Human Rights
World Organisation Against Torture
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