DISSIDENTS URGES RELEASE OF ESHKEVARI AND POLITICAL PRISONERS
PARIS 24TH Sept. (IPS) Friends and family of Hojjatoleslam Hasan Yusefi Eshkevari expressed "serious concern" on his health conditions in prison and urged the authorities to provide him the necessary treatment for acute Diabetes.
A prominent Islamist reformist, Mr. Yusefi-Eshkevari was arrested on his return to Tehran from Paris on 5th August, charged with "propaganda against the Islamic Republic, activities against national security, questioning basic canons of Islam and insult to the leader".
He was one of the 17 Iranian reformist journalists, intellectuals, scholars and independent dissidents who were accused of exactly same charges after having participated at a conference in Berlin on 7th April organised by a German cultural organisation.
The arrest of the dissidents and the closure of all independent and reformist publications on orders from Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the leader of the Islamic regime of Iran was the signal of a new all out offensive by the hard liners and conservatives against the reformists led by President Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami.
Mr. Eshkevari’s family had warned on his health, accusing prison authorities of delaying deliberately health care, particularly preventing him from having regular access to his dose of insuline.
Speaking to foreign-based radio stations, Mrs. Eshkevari warned the authorities she would hold them responsible if anything serious happens to her detained husband.
A close family source told Iran Press Service that the Judiciary is not sure about Mr. Eshkevari, fearing bringing him to trial on the Clergymen’s Special Tribunal (CST) would create uproar, be transformed into another tribune to the benefit of reformists, at a time that the closure of reformist press have denied them "loud speaker" to the people.
"Interrogations are finished. Now, the Judiciary authorities have to either release him or judging him, but are afraid of the repetition of another Nuri trial", in reference to that of Hojjatoleslam Abdollah Nuri, the former Interior Minister who’s trial at the CST a year ago, that become a trial of the regime itself.
More than 130 prominent Iranian intellectuals, scholars, journalists, artists and political personalities of all political and ideological walk, in letter, expressed concern on the situation of political prisoners, including Hojjatoleslam Yusefi-Eshkevari and Mr. Akbar Ganji, an investigative writer and journalist, both of them kept in solitary confinement in the notorious Evin Prison.
The letter warned the authorities on the "negative" impact the "systematic" imprisoning of dissidents, the arrest of journalists and the ban on reformist publications would produce on the political life of the nation.
One the signatories speaking on condition of anonymity told IPS that following the leader’s recent decisions, including the arrest of prominent personalities, journalists, closure of newspapers and the taming of the Majles have created an "explosive situation".
"As seen in Khorramabad, the situation is like a big fire hidden under ashes. The students are angry, the conservatives, particularly their pressure groups and military forces deliberately provokes the people, looking for pretext, do not let any stone unturned to humiliate the President who, despite setbacks, remains popular", he pointed out. ENDS ESHKEVARI HEALTH 24900