The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is pleased to note that in response to intense international pressure, including appeals from FDI, Amnesty International, and the International PEN Writers in Prison committee, the Islamic Republic authorities have recently released ten supporters of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Shirazi, many of whom had been held incommunicado since November 1995. (See Action Memoranda 04 and 015).
However, the Foundation is concerned for the safety of 18 other followers of Grand Ayatollah Shirazi, including two of his sons, who remain in prison on orders from the Special Court of the Clergy.
The Foundation is also concerned for the safety of Grand Ayatollah Yaqoubodin Rastaghari, aged 70, who was abducted from his home in Qom in February 1996. There have been credible reports that Grand Ayatollah Rastaghari has been subject to torture and has been admitted on several occasions to a prison hospital.
Some of those released were instructed by the prison authorities to warn Grand Ayatollah Shirazi that if he did not change his stance toward the regime "his supporters and his sons will be executed in prison." They also complained of having been systematically tortured.
In addition to Ayatollah Rastaghari, the following 18 persons remain in jail under threat of torture and possible execution. FDI appeals to human rights organizations, the United Nations, and Western governments to put pressure on the government of the Islamic Republic for the immediate and unconditional release.
1. Hojjat-ol Eslam Makki Akhound, 30, a member of Grand Ayatollah Shirazi's staff in Qom who was arrested at his parents home in Isfahan on April 29, 1994. After severe torture, he was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment by the Special Court of the Clergy.
2. Hojjat-ol Eslam Saleh Hedayati, an Islamic lecturer at Grand Ayatollah's Hawzah seminary in Qom.
3 Hojjat-ol Eslam Mohammad Taqi al-Dhakeri, 41. His whereabouts are currently unknown.
4. Hojjat-ol Eslam Mohammad Fazel Mohammad al-Saffar, author of the 60 volume "Karbala" encyclopedia and a five volume work on Islamic concepts of freedom which has banned in Iran.
5. Hojjat-ol Eslam Taleb al-Salehi, author of a work on the necessity of pluralism in Islamic government. Summoned to a government-owned house in Tehran in March 1996, family members said he appeared to have been drugged and showed signs of torture. According to unconfirmed reports received in May 1996, he subsequently lost his sight as a result of torture.
6. Hojjat-ol Eslam Fu'ad Fujeyan, arrested on Nov. 11, 1995.
7. Hajj Mohammad al-Ghaffari, director general of the Seyed al-Shuhadaa hospital in Tehran, founded by Grand Ayatollah Shirazi).
8. Hadi al-Dhakeri, member of the board of directors of the Imam Saadiq Islamic bank (founded by Grand Ayatollah Shirazi). The authorities appear to have trumped up drug-related charges against him, according to family members, which could expose him to the death penalty.
9-15. Seven unidentified students who were arrested in the Nov. 12, 1995 raid against a religious school in Qom.
16. Hojjat-ol Eslam Seyed Morteza Shirazi, 29, the second son of Grand Ayatollah Shirazi. He reportedly staged a hunger strike in prison soon after his Nov. 21, 1995 arrest on the streets of Qom, and was last seen in January in a prison hospital.
17. Hojjat-ol Eslam Mehdi Shirazi, 21, the Grand Ayatollah's fourth son, arrested in June while driving from Qom to Tehran.
18. Hajj Ali al-Rumaisi, 40, a member of the Grand Ayatollah's staff in Qom, arrested on June 19, 1996.
The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private, non-profit corporation registered in the State of Maryland. Contact: Kenneth R. Timmerman, Executive Director (exec@iran.org). FDI materials, including the FDI Newswire, are available free-of-charge via the Internet at http://www.iran.org/.