URGENT ACTION

Iran: Fear for safety/ Fear of torture and ill-treatment, Kianoosh Sanjari (m)

PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/121/2006
23 October 2006

UA 284/06 Fear for safety/ Fear of torture and
ill-treatment
IRAN Kianoosh Sanjari (m), aged 24, student activist and blogger

Student activist and blogger Kianoosh Sanjari was arrested on 7 October whilst
reporting on clashes between security forces and supporters of Shi'a cleric
Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi. Kianoosh Sanjari is being held
incommunicado at an unknown location and Amnesty International fears that he
may be at risk of torture or ill-treatment.

Kianoosh Sanjari, a member of a group known as the United Students Front, had
allegedly gone to the home of Ayatollah Boroujerdi in the capital, Tehran, to
prepare a report on the clashes that were taking place there. He was reportedly
arrested along with scores of Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s supporters and transferred
to an unknown location.

Kianoosh Sanjari has been arrested several times in the past. When he was only
17 years old in July 1999 he was arrested during student-led demonstrations
against the closure of the newspaper Salam (Peace). He was subsequently held in
solitary confinement for many months. Prior to his recent arrest, he lived in
Tehran and was reportedly closely monitored by the authorities.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Sh'ia cleric Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi reportedly advocates
the separation of religion from the political basis of the state. He was
arrested at his home in Tehran on 8 October 2006, along with an unknown number,
possibly around 300, of his followers. The arrests took place during violent
clashes with security forces. A total of around 418 of his followers are now
thought to be in detention (see UA 262/2006, MDE 13/114/2006, 29 September
2006:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE131142006?open&of=ENG-IRN and
follow-up, MDE 13/120/2006, 13 October 2006:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE131202006?open&of=ENG-IRN


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