Posted on 07/29/2004 9:00:27 PM PDT by DoctorZIn
Justice System Delivers New Affront in the Zahra Kazemi Case
July 29, 2004
Reporters Without Borders
RSF
Reporters Without Borders said it was "astounded" at the 28 July 2004 statement by Iran's justice system that the death of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi could have been "accidental".
The international press freedom organisation joined the family's lawyers in calling on the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Shahrudi, to name a judge independent of the Tehran prosecutor's office to review the entire file and reconstruct the facts in the case.
"Reporters Without Borders cannot find words strong enough to describe the latest statements from the Iranian justice system. They dare to say that, since the man responsible for Kazemi's murder was acquitted - at a rigged trial - it proves that Zahra Kazemi died accidentally !
"This reasoning goes beyond the ridiculous and amounts to an affront. We join the lawyers in calling for a judge independent of the prosecutor's office, which is implicated in this case, for a full investigation of this murder that the legal authorities are trying to dress up as an accident, " said the organisation.
Kazemi was arrested on 23 June 2003 while taking photographs of families of inmates in front of Evin Prison in the north of Tehran. She was beaten in detention and died from her injuries on 10 July. After first trying to hide the cause of death, the Iranian authorities admitted on 16 July that she had been "beaten".
Intelligence official Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi, one of those who interrogated Kazemi in custody, was charged and then acquitted on 24 July 2004.
During the trial, the family's lawyers called for evidence to be given in court by Mohammad Bakshi, an agent at Evin Prison under the control of the Tehran prosecutor ; Said Mortazavi, Tehran prosecutor ; and five top legal officials who were present at the interrogation.
The Tehran court rejected the request and dispatched the trial in two days. However various Iranian investigative commissions have implicated these legal officials.
In a statement released on 28 July, the family's lawyers' collective, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, urged the head of the judiciary Ayatollah Shahrudi, to name a judge independent of the prosecutor's office to review the entire file and allow an genuine reconstruction of the murder.
The statement also put a series of questions :
"It has been proved, including in statements from several witnesses present at the scene, that a senior official at Evin Prison struck Zahra Kazemi a very heavy blow on the left side of her head that broke her skull. We want to know why certain people want to cover up this case.
Why was the identity not revealed of an interrogator of Zahra Kazemi, from 23 June at 10.30pm to 24 June at 2.30am, although the interrogation took place in the presence of the prosecutor and one of his assistants ?
Why were the records of the interrogation falsified ?
Why was the intelligence services proposal to take part in reconstruction of the murder scene not taken into account ?"
Reporters Without Borders is also maintaining its demand for Kazemi's body to be repatriated to Canada, in accordance with the wishes of her son and for an autopsy to be carried out there.
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11041
Powell Warns Iran On Iraq
AFP - World News (via Yahoo)
Jul 30, 2004
BAGHDAD - US Secretary Colin Powell, making an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Friday, warned neighboring Iran against seeking undue influence in Iraq while pledging to speed the flow of reconstruction funds to the country.
"Any actions taken by Iran which seek to gain influence in Iraq we would look at with disfavor," he said, adding: "We continue to monitor the situation."
Speaking at a joint press conference with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, he said: "We hope the Iran authorities realize that it is in their interest to have a stable Iraq as their neighbor."
After talks with Saleh and the public works, minerals and housing ministers, Powell said: "We want to speed up the flow of funds into the reconstruction effort ... to get the job done."
He said improvements in supplies of water and electricity, as well as infrastructure would "contribute to the sense of safety and improve the security environment."
Powell however was forced to admit that the wave of kidnappings in Iraq, with at least 25 people currently held captive or missing, had a "deterring effect" on reconstruction and the multinational coalition.
"There is nothing romantic about this. There is nothing justified about this. The world must stand united," he said.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_7394.shtml
Justice, mullah style
National Post - Editorial
Jul 30, 2004
The prospects for justice in the case of Zahra Kazemi, the Iranian-Canadian journalist murdered last year while working in Iran, once seemed merely bleak. Now, they appear to have evaporated entirely.
For a time, Iranian officials at least conceded that someone within the government was likely responsible for her death. But in the wake of last Sunday's acquittal of the intelligence agent charged with the murder, they've come up with an explanation so absurd that it would be comical if it were not so tragic.
"With the acquittal of the sole defendant, only one option is left: The death of the late Kazemi was an accident due to a fall in blood pressure resulting from a hunger strike and her fall on the ground while standing," declared a statement from Iran's Office of the Prosecutor General on Wednesday. We'll leave readers to figure out how someone could receive massive head trauma -- let alone die -- from a "fall in blood pressure" after simply falling over. But even more bizarre is the leap in logic that would lead the Prosecutor General -- who, incidentally, is believed by many to be directly implicated in Ms. Kazemi's murder-- to conclude that because the defendant was acquitted, the death must have been an accident.
Of course, there's no reason to believe that this version of events is the last one we'll get from the Islamic Republic. After all, Wednesday's statement was at least the third different explanation we've been offered to date.
The Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's state mouthpiece, originally claimed she had suffered a "brain stroke." An inquiry conducted soon thereafter by five Iranian cabinet ministers found she died from a "physical attack," and Iran's Vice-President, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, conceded last July that Ms. Kazemi died from "a brain hemorrhage resulting from blows inflicted on her."
By now, it should be obvious even to Iran's most ardent apologists that the country has no interest in seeking justice for Ms. Kazemi and her family. To the mullahs and the country's judiciary, dominated by hard-line theocrats whose concept of justice is moulded by their own warped interpretations of Koranic scripture, it's case closed.
Even as this reality sinks in, Canada's response -- thus far limited to recalling our ambassador to Tehran and doing a lot of grumbling -- remains too meek. With the United Nations having been virtually silent on the matter to date, it's time for our federal government to ratchet up the pressure. On top of expelling Iran's ambassador and imposing sanctions, Ottawa should pursue the matter internationally.
If we command as much respect on the world stage as our leaders claim, then let's lead the charge for Iran's censure at the General Assembly. If the United Nations can get itself worked into a tizzy every time Israel or the United States sneezes, then surely it can muster the fortitude to rap Iran for its brutal injustice against an innocent Canadian.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_7399.shtml
Iraq Wants Smuggled Aircrafts Back
July 30, 2004
The Middle East Media Research Institute
MEMRI News Ticker
Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem al-Sha'lan announced that his country has decided to begin negotiating with the Iranian government about returning the aircraft smuggled into Iran by the previous regime.
(Al-sharq al-Awsat, London, 7/30/04)
In response to his statements that Iran is Iraq’s enemy no. 1, the conservative Iranian dailies Jomhour-ye eslami and Kayhan accused Iraqi defense minister Hazem Sha'lan of murdering Iraqis after the fall of Saddam Hussein, of spying for Saudi intelligence and the CIA, and of being a member of Saddam Hussein's ba'th party.
(Jomhour-ye eslami & Kayhan, Iran, 7/29/04)
Iran’s expediency council head Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said during a meeting with the visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that terrorism is rooted in the wrong views of the U.S. and in its exploitative ambitions.
(Jomhouri-ye eslami, Iran, 7/29/04)
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during his visit to Iran that the expansion of the two countries' political, economic, and security cooperation is a priority in Turkish foreign policy.
(Jomhouri-ye eslami, Iran, 7/29/04)
An IAEA spokeswoman said a new IAEA report on Iran’s nuclear program will be prepared in early September and the next meeting of IAEA board of governors is set for September 13.
(Kayhan, Iran, 7/29/04)
With the renewal of Iran’s nuclear talks with the three European countries in London, Iranian MPs said that until the Iranian dossier at the IAEA is closed, it would not ratify the additional protocol.
(Kayhan, Iran, 7/29/04)
Iranian president Muhammad Khatami warned Israel that it would be making a mistake in attacking Iran’s nuclear installations, and Iranian defense minister Ali Shamkhani said that in the event of an Israeli threat on Iran, nowhere in Israel would be safe for the heads of its regime.
(Kayhan, Iran, 7/29/04)
The reformists in Iran presented as a candidate for the presidential elections in May 2005 Mir Hussein Mousavi, an engineer, who together with the reformist clerics is supported by the reformist parties.
(Aftab-e yazd, Iran, 7/29/04)
The Iranian daily Jomhour-ye eslami reported that the Hamas news agency Quds press had said that Israel, under the aegis of the u.s. forces, has for the past year maintained an embassy in Iraq, and that over 900 Israelis are in Iraq.
(Jomhour-ye eslami, Iran, 7/29/04)
The 'Fedayoon [martyrs] of Qaddafi' threatened to kill anyone who raises questions about the disappearance in Libya in the 70s of senior Lebanese Shi'ite cleric Ayatollah Mussa al-Sadr.
(Al-Sharq al-Awsat, London, 7/30/04)
http://memri.org/ticker0704.html
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