PR No. 58
August 30, 2010

The letter by Sajjad, Sakineh Ashtiani’s son, below has been received by the International Committee Against Stoning on August 30, 2010. In this letter Sajjad reports on his mother’s dangerous situation, his father’s murder file having gone missing, as well as on the raid on the house of Hootan Kian’s, his mother’s lawyer, and the stealing of documents from there. Further, he warns against making up a new case against his mother. He asks us all to beware of these new developments and make efforts to prevent the Islamic Republic from fabricating a new case against his mother and, subsequently, executing her.

The letter will be released to the media through the International Committee Against Stoning.

International Committee Against Stoning
International Committee Against Execution

August 30, 2010

The verbatim translation of Sajjad’s letter:

In the Name of God

To all associations of defenders of human rights around the immense universe

I salute you and deeply appreciate your daily troubles to free my innocent mother (save her life).

I, Sajjad Ghaderzade, went to Division 7 of the office of Execution of Criminal Sentences in Tabriz [provincial capital of Eastern Azerbaijan] last week in order to collect all the documents relevant to my father’s death and obtain other evidence existing in his murder file. What I found out was that my father’s murder file was not at the said division. The officials of the division first claimed that since the case had been closed the file had been sent to the Still Filing Office. I went there. The official in charge said all he knew was that the file had not been received by their office. I went back to the Division, this time only to find out that the file had got lost. As a rule a copy of [all the documents relevant to] the investigation phase of my father’s, or anyone else’s murder, is kept at the [Police] Criminal Department of every town. So I had to go the Criminal Department of Oskoo Police, which I did. What I found out was that the copy which was supposed to be there was also missing. Therefore, [especially] in view of the false statement [on August 28, 2010] by the so-called Department of Citizens’ Rights Only [originally, the High Council of Human Rights] of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic [see http://stopstonningnow.com/wpress/3425], it is possible that the case is being tampered with or a new case is being made up. This worries us very much. It is worth noting that on Sunday, 1389/5/31 [Solar Hijri Calendar], August 22, 2010, the house of our lawyer (Mr. Hootan Kian) was raided through beating and pushing aside the security guard of the residential tower, an old man, and breaking down the apartment door in the worst possible way. His laptop, printer, and all of his files, including my mother’s, were taken. When we called there it looked like there had been an earthquake in that house.

We (I) wander at the Judiciary authorities [and their Statement on Human Rights] when the previous lawyer of this humble party, [consisting of my mother, my sister and myself,] Mr. Mohammad Mostafaei, a most competent lawyer, had to escape his homeland and leave his abode behind in order to save his life. And now Mr. Hootan Kian is being put under the most intense security and psychological pressures, threatened in the most severe manner, and summoned [to either the judiciary of the Ministry of Intelligence].

Why do they extract a false confession from my mother and broadcast it [on TV]? Why have they taken away our mother’s right to visitation with us and her lawyer?! Can the reason be anything other than that the torture marks are still visible on her body and they do not want any witnesses to that, and that is why they have postponed the visitations until after the marks have got relatively better?! Why has my father’s murder file gone missing? Why will they not let my mother’s case go through a normal process of reviewing? We are sad, indeed, to have been born in the Islamic Republic. After its television show [of my mother’s confessing to my father’s murder] we have been disowned even by our own [extended] family! And we still have to bear the life under abasement here! Indeed, where is death? This life is killing us!

Sajjad Ghaderzade