Source:
Reporters Without Borders
March
18 is the first anniversary of blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi's
tragic death in Tehran's Evin prison, a death that could have been avoided if
the prison staff had not been negligent. "If they have acted promptly and done
what was necessary, Mirsayafi could have been saved," Reporters Without Borders
said. "His death is all the more regrettable as his detention was totally
unjustified."
Mirsayafi collapsed at 12 noon on 18
March 2009 and was taken to the prison infirmary. The prison authorities then
took three hours to transfer him to Loghman Hakim Hospital in the centre of
Tehran. Admitted at 4 p.m., he died an hour later. An autopsy by a forensic
doctor gave the cause of death as suicide by means of an overdose of a
prescription drug (propranolol). The body was handed over to the family for
burial.
His family called for a second
autopsy in vain. A commission under the health ministry's supervision issued a
report in November 2009 that came to the same conclusions as the forensic
doctor. The family brought a complaint against the Evin prison authorities.
Reporters Without Borders supports the family's call for an investigation by an
independent and impartial commission and the release of all documents that could
shed light on the circumstances of Mirsayafi's imprisonment and death.
Many questions remain unanswered. Why did the judge
ignore Mirsayafi's lawyer when he said his client would be unable to endure
imprisonment because of his depressive tendencies? How was Mirsayafi able to
obtain 50 pills without anyone noticing? Why did the prison staff take so long
to transfer him to hospital despite the obvious urgency and gravity of the
situation?
Everything points to gross
negligence on the part of the authorities in the medical and psychological
treatment they accorded Mirsayafi.
"Mirsayafi's death is emblematic of
the tragedy affecting dissidents in Iran today," Reporters Without Borders said.
"He is a symbol of all those who are hounded, persecuted, arrested, jailed and
silenced. We pay tribute to his memory and we demand the immediate release of
the 50 or so journalists and bloggers who are currently detained in Iran just
for expressing their views freely."
Agence France-Presse has meanwhile
reported that Revolutionary Guards arrested around 30 netizens on 13 March. The
arrests, which yet again had no legal basis, show that the authorities are
reinforcing their crackdown on Internet users. For the first time those arrested
were formally accused of direct links with opposition groups based abroad and
western intelligence agencies including the CIA.
The Iranian authorities hold the CIA
responsible for all the protests that have been taking place for the past nine
months, accusing it of supplying software for circumventing censorship and
inciting people to take part in banned demonstrations.
Reporters Without Borders urges the
authorities to immediately name the 30 people who are being held and give the
reasons for their arrests. Charges must be personal, not collective, and their
rights must be respected.
More information about Omidreza
Mirsayafi:
http://www.rsf.org/Call-for-independent-probe-into.html
http://www.rsf.org/Shock-at-death-of-blogger-in.html
... Payvand News - 03/18/10 ... --
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