- Abdolfattah Soltani
Abdolfattah Soltani is a well-known Iranian human rights lawyer.
He the lawyer for the family of slain Iranian-Canadian photojournalist
Zahra Kazemi , who was murdered in Evin Prison in July 2003.Shirin Ebadi , winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, and Soltani were representing Kazemi’s relatives. They have both also been representing jailed journalistAkbar Ganji during his imprisonment and long hunger strike.He has been detained without formal charge in Tehran’s Evin prison from 30 July 2005 till March 2006 (226 days).
On 30 July 2005, Abdolfattah Soltani was arrested whilst holding a sit-in at the building of Tehran’s Bar Association. He was protesting a warrant for his arrest, along with a search warrant for his home, both issued by the Chief Prosecutor for Tehran, Said Mortazavi, on 27 July 2005.
Abdolfattah Soltani was held in solitary confinement until 15 September 2005, when he was moved into a cell with another prisoner. His wife and mother were permitted to meet him for the first time only 10 days before this, on 5 September 2005, and then only in the presence of a prison guard. He looked physically weakened, and said that he had not been informed about the authorities’ intentions in his case. His wife and mother have been permitted visits since, usually in the presence of prison guards but his children have not seen him since his arrest. He is reportedly barred from making phone calls and reading newspapers.
At the beginning of January 2006, after over five months in detention, Abdolfattah Soltani was permitted access to his lawyer for the first time. He has been interrogated on numerous occasions without the presence of a lawyer. No further visits by his lawyer were known to have occurred by early February 2006.
The investigating judge originally appointed to deal with his case was replaced with another judge in December 2005, apparently because he was considering releasing Abdolfattah Soltani on bail. On 3 December 2005, the new investigating judge extended his temporary detention order for a further three months. Abdolfattah Soltani has still not yet been formally charged.
See also
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Defenders of Human Rights Center
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