Photographer: WashingtonTV
Shirin Ebadi addresses the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Washington DC, February 2, 2009)
18:22GMT—1:22PM/EST
Washington, 12 January (Washington TV)—In an exclusive telephone interview with WashingtonTV on Tuesday, Shirin Ebadi, one of the lawyers defending the seven detained Baha’i leaders in Iran, whose first trial hearing took place today in Tehran, said that if “justice” were to prevail, the only verdict that could be reached over this case was one of “acquittal”.
“If justice is to be carried out and an impartial judge should investigate the charges leveled against my clients, no other verdict can be reached save that of acquittal,” said Ebadi, in comments translated from the Persian.
But she went on to express regret about the Judiciary’s behavior. “Unfortunately, for some time now, the Judiciary has distanced itself from justice.”
Ebadi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, also criticized the manner in which today’s hearing, which was the first session of the trial, was staged behind closed doors.
She said: “On the basis of the information given to me by the families of my clients, the first session of the trial began today and out of the four lawyers which the Centre for the Defense of Human Rights [established by Ebadi and other lawyers in Iran and currently closed by the authorities] had assigned to them – myself, Mr [Abdolfattah] Soltani, Mr [Hadi] Esma’ilzadeh and Ms [Mahnaz]Parakand – [the latter two], Mr Esma’ilzadeh and Ms Parakand took part in the hearing, but in spite of our request, it was announced that the hearing would be held behind closed doors and they even made the relatives leave the room.”
Ebadi explained that her clients have been convicted of “spying for America and Israel, acting against national security and [engaging in] propaganda against the [Islamic Republic’s] system”, adding: “I read the dossier and fortunately or unfortunately, found in it no cause or evidence to sustain the criminal charges upheld by the prosecutor.”
The Baha’i International Community has categorically denied the accusations and said that today’s trial in Tehran was marked by “numerous violations” of legal due process.
The defendants, Mr Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mr Saeed Rezai’i, Mrs Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr Vahid Tizfahm, Mr Jamaloddin Khanjani and Mr Afif Na’imi, were arrested in their homes in Tehran on 14 May 2008 and Mrs Mahvash Sabet was arrested on 5 March 2008 in northeastern city of Mashhad.
On the question of the postponement of the trial of the detainees, Ebadi said: “This case was set up wrongly from the start, that is, my clients should have been released immediately. This delay which has lasted up to now is a contravention of the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
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