Families of Detained Environmental Activists: Our Children Are Under Severe Pressure

The families of Iranian environmental activists detained by the Revolutionary Guard have reiterated the innocence of their children in a letter to the heads of the three branches of government, requesting that a delegation from the government and parliament hear the statements of the detainees. This letter, published on Tuesday, August 1, reminds that eight environmental activists in Iran have been detained for six months on charges of espionage, while a special investigative committee from the President, the Minister of Intelligence, and the head of the Department of Environment has "officially declared that the espionage charges against the detained environmental activists are baseless and has called for their release." The eight activists are Mir Hossein Khaleghi, Hooman Jokar, Taher Ghadirian, Sam Rajabi, Niloufar Bayani, Sepideh Kashani, Morad Tahbaz, and Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, who, according to their families, are "held in Ward 2-A of the Revolutionary Guard in Evin Prison in small multi-person cells." The letter states: "The conditions of our loved ones are very concerning. These individuals, whose roof is the sky and whose bed is the soil of dear Iran, have been arrested without any evidence and have continued to be under severe pressure for these six months." The case of the Iranian environmental activists gained particular attention following the death of Kavous Seyed-Emami, the director of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Institute, in prison. Iranian judicial officials claim he committed suicide while facing similar espionage charges. However, regardless of the validity of this claim, reports of severe pressure on Iranian environmental activists in prison have surfaced. Sam Rajabi's sister recently detailed some of this pressure in an open letter, which included threats of execution. The new letter from the families of the detainees also states that they have been deprived of the right to free phone calls and visits during these six months. The letter addressed to the heads of the three branches of Iran states: "We kindly request that you order a selected delegation of parliament and government representatives to meet with the detained environmental activists in Ward 2-A of the Revolutionary Guard to hear their statements in a free atmosphere for transparency." The letter adds: "Our request as parents and relatives of these dear ones is that, given your high competence in matters related to national security and crisis management, you use your valuable authority to free these patriotic youths from the unjust and heart-wrenching accusation of espionage." In mid-May of this year, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, announced that experts from the Ministry of Intelligence found no evidence of the detained environmental activists being "spies." A few days later, Eisa Kalantari, the head of Iran's Department of Environment, stated that a four-member committee was formed by the President to follow up on the fate of these detainees, which includes the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Interior, the Legal Deputy of the President, and the Minister of Intelligence, and this committee concluded that "the detained activists should be released because there is no evidence to substantiate the accusations against them." However, Iranian judicial officials have rejected these statements, emphasizing that the selected government committee has no authority to comment on this case.