Prison Terms Range from 4-10 Years Based on No Evidence and False “Confessions”
February 18, 2020 – The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) condemns the Iranian appeals court’s decision to uphold lengthy prison sentences against eight wildlife conservationists detained since January 2018 without due process on charges that were refuted by three major Iranian state agencies including the Intelligence Ministry.
First Half of Indictment Lacks Evidence, Relies on Statements Made Under Extreme Duress
January 30, 2019 – In their first trial session since being detained in Iran one year ago, eight conservationists learned today that the first half of their indictment is based on one detainee’s retracted forced “confessions.”
Part of the 300-page indictment was read today to defendants Houman Jowkar, Taher Ghadirian, Morad Tahbaz, Sepideh Kashani, Niloufar Bayani, Amir Hossein Khaleghi, Sam Rajabi and Abdolreza Kouhpayeh in their closed-door trial on January 30, 2019, at Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Abolqasem Salavati.
January 24, 2019 – Some of the conservationists who have been imprisoned incommunicado in Iran for the past year have been forced to confess under the threat of death, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned.
Prosecutions Lacking Due Process Aimed at Deflecting Attention from Death of One of the Detainees
October 23, 2018 – Nine months after a group of environmentalists were imprisoned in Iran without any evidence of wrongdoing and denied due process—and after the death of one them in state custody—five of them have been charged with a serious national security crime.
October 8, 2018 – Five out of the eight environmentalists who have been detained in Iran since January 2018, including an Iranian-American dual national, have been issued preliminary indictments eight months into their imprisonment.
