Nasser Zarafshan Arrested - 2002-08-08

Nasser Zarafshan, the lawyer for the families of the victims of the chain murders and intellectuals and dissidents, who had spoken about the government's involvement in the murder of five intellectuals and dissidents in Iran, has been arrested. His arrest followed the rejection of his appeal in two cases of conviction. According to Mr. Zarafshan's lawyer, he has begun serving his five-year prison sentence. Mr. Zarafshan's crime was disclosing confidential information that had previously been announced by the government. He is one of the lawyers representing the families of the victims in the trial of 18 defendants in that case. The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence has identified rogue elements within the ministry as responsible for the murders and states that the mastermind of the killings was a senior official of the Ministry of Intelligence who committed suicide in 1999 while awaiting trial in prison. Mr. Zarafshan was arrested two years ago after giving a speech about the murders. During his trial, he stated that he did not disclose state secrets in his remarks because prior to that speech, officials from the Ministry of Intelligence had admitted that employees of the ministry had carried out the murders of dissidents. Setareh Derakhshesh conducted an interview with Mohammad Ali Faroughi Jadari, Nasser Zarafshan's lawyer, which you can listen to on this page.