GoPetition - Popular petitions (Iran)

Protest against the June 2009 coup d'état in Iran

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 06:25 UTC

The 2009 Iranian presidential election was held on 12 June 2009 in Iran, the tenth presidential election to be held in the country. The incumbent was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Iranian reform movement attempted to unite behind former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi. The turnout was very high with around 85 percent of the electorate voting. Unofficial results from within the interim ministry report Mousavi the absolute winner with 54% of the votes with Mehdi Karoubi and Ahmadinejad with 31% and 13% ranked after Mousavi.

In total denial of Iranian people's choice, the Islamic Republic's officials announced Ahmadinejad to be the winner and Iranians are repressed by military forces.

URGENT! Save Sakineh Mohammadi from being Stoned to Death in Iran

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 11:18 UTC

*Updates:

Iranian woman has not been executed, official says

Iranian women 'in slavery': stoning woman's lawyer

Petition: Free Sakineh's son Sajjad, lawyer Houtan Kian, and two German Journalists

Jailed Iranian Woman's Son Reported Missing

Final verdict not yet decided on Iranian woman sentenced to stoning

Sajjad Ghaderzadeh, son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani: My mother is innocent

Lawyer: Woman facing stoning in Iran has been whipped

Son seeks proof Iranian stoning case 'on hold'

Iran: Woman's stoning sentence on hold

Iran orders 99 lashes for woman facing execution, rights group says

Final verdict postponed for Iranian woman facing stoning

Sakineh Mohammadi was forced to "confess" on TV

* SAKINEH IS IN DANGER OF STONING OR ANOTHER METHOD OF EXECUTION

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s case review postponed; final judgment will be made in 20 days

Islamic Republic judiciary authorities to decide Sakineh’s case on July 21

Children of Sakineh Ashtiani Mohammadi, have written a letter! MUST READ!

** June 23, 2010: SAKINEH HAS ASKED FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO FORGIVE HER, THEY [[[[[REJECTED!!!!]]]]] PLEASE KEEP SIGNING, AND SPREAD THE NEWS ABOUT HER! WE CAN SAVE HER!

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Radio Free Europe | Radio Liberty

A lawyer and activist close to the case of an Iranian woman convicted of adultery say she may soon be stoned to death, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports.

Women's rights activist Soheila Vahdati spoke to Radio Farda on June 17 about the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. Ashtiani, who has two children, has been imprisoned in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz since 2005.

Vahdati says Sakineh was earlier sentenced to 99 lashes in 2006 for having "illicit relationships." The sentence was subsequently carried out and her case was closed.

But authorities later charged Ashtiani with murder. Prosecutors alleged that Ashtiani and her boyfriend had killed her husband.

In making the murder case against Ashtiani, activist Vahdati says the court "illegally" reopened the adultery case against Ashtiani. It was the second time Ashtiani would be tried for the same alleged adulterous conduct.

According to Vahdati, Ashtiani was sentenced to be stoned to death for the same alleged act of adultery for which she earlier had been convicted to 99 lashes. It is not clear when she was sentenced.

While denying the charges against her, Ashtiani has asked the authorities for a pardon.

According to activist Vahdati, Ashtiani told the authorities, "if I have done any wrong, I repent."

Her clemency request was rejected.

Lawyer Mohammad Mostafaie, who represents Ashtiani, also maintains her innocence. Writing on his personal blog, the lawyer described Ashtiani's stoning as imminent and said his client will be executed "for an offense she has not committed."

According to Article 83 of the Laws of Islamic Punishment in Iran, ratified in 1991, the penalty for adultery is death by stoning.

However, murder is not punishable in Iran by stoning. Murderers who receive the death sentence are hanged.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Fear_For_Iranian_Woman_Facing_Death_By_Stoning_/2075376.html

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**Facebook (for Sakineh): www.Facebook.com/SaveSakineh

Save Ehsan Fattahian from execution

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 06:13 UTC

Excellency Ben Ki-Moon,

The government of Iranian regime is ready to commit one more crime in its desperate behaviour to survive the peaceful freedom movement in the country.

Ehsan Fattahian, the Kurdish political prisoner who went on hunger strike is set to be executed on Wednesday. He is jailed in the Central Prison in Sanadaj.

He was arrested in summer and initially wad condemned to 10 years in prison and exile to a remote prison in the Ramhormoz in Khouzestan, Southern Iran. After the objection the dossier was sent to the Revolutionary Court of Sanadaj, where the sentence was revised and changed to execution! He was accused to be a member of a banned Kurdish political party.

He is set to be executed to set an example of those prisoners who go on strike and don’t stop fighting even within the prisons.

He is set to be executed because the isolated and regime is in panic and kills as many opponents as they can before their end day.

Excellency,
TIME IS RUNNING OUT and every second matters!

Save Bahman (shirko) Maarefi from Execution

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:36 UTC

Excellency Ban Ki Moon,

The Iranian regime is ready to yet commit another crime!! After recent execution of Ehsan, they are now determined to take Shirkoo’s life away.

Bahman Moaarefi known as Shirko, a 30 year old Kurd activist from Banneh (a city of Kurdistan province) has been recognized as Mohareb (god’s enemy) by the Iranian judicial system! He has been charged with propaganda against the regime and fight against the god which in the Islamic regime of Iran is a crime punishable by death.

He was arrested on November 1st, 2007 and has been in detention at Saghez’s intelligence office. Currently he is prohibited from having visitors in detention.

In preparation for his execution, Shirko Moaarefi was transferred to solitary confinement at Saghez central prison. He is one of the Kurd civil activist who was arrested in Saghez last year and was sentenced to death after being interrogated and severely tortured.

He may be taken for execution unannounced, as his lawyer Khalil Bahramian has confirmed the news of Shirko’s transfer to solitary confinement. Based on the unannounced and expeditious execution of Ehsan Fatahyan, the regime might take the same position and execute Shirko in 1-2 days.

We are asking you to please do not remain silent during these critical days as the Islamic regime will not hesitate taking this young activist’s life!

Thank you in advance for all your hard work.

Best Regards,

Save Zeinab Jalalian (زینب جلالیان) from Execution

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:28 UTC

Your Excellency, Honorable Ban Ki Moon,

The Iranian regime is continuing its unjust and unprecedented crime against Kurdish political Activists and ready to yet commit another crime!! After recent execution of Ehsan Fattahian, the regime now punished Zeynab Jalalian with death sentence and determined to take her life away.

I am writing to you today because I am extremely concerned about the current situation of Ms Zeinab Jalalian (زینب جلالیان), a 27 years old Kurdish political prisoner who was sentenced to death on November 26, 2009.

Her death sentence was confirmed by Iranian Supreme Court per a brief note sent by her on November 26, 2009.

She was arrested in the city of Kermanshah in Iran by Iranian security forces and transferred to Sepah Pasdaran’s (Guardians of the Revolution) intelligence office. Revolution court in Kermanshah city conducted a brief trial without due diligence and proper legal representation, lasting only a few minutes. Based on her membership of a Kurdistan political party she was accused of Fighting God and was given the death penalty.

She is currently ill due to prison conditions and torture. She did not have any lawyer to defend her. Court told her that: “You are a God's enemy and you have to be hanged very soon” That was the only communication took place at her court hearing. She asked the judge to give her a permission to say good bye to her mother and family before her execution. The judge told her to "shut up" and rejected her last plea. Based on the unannounced and expeditious execution of Ehsan Fatahyan, the regime might take the same position and execute Ms Zeinab Jalalian (زینب جلالیان) without further notice.

We are asking you to please do not remain silent during these critical days as the Islamic regime will not hesitate taking this young activist’s life!

Thank you in advance for all your hard work.

Best Regards,

Stop the Execution of Saeed Malekpour, Iranian-Canadian Comp Programmer, Imminent Execution!

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 06:27 UTC

**Update March 9, 2012**

Sister of Saeed Malekpour talks to media and says it has been 50 days and she has not heard any news of her brother and she is very worried that he will be executed at any moment:

http://www.radiozamaneh.com/english/content/malekpour-imminent-danger-execution

**Update Feb 17, 2012**

URGENT: Saeed Malekpour's execution case has been sent to the enforcement office for IMPLEMENTATION of his death sentence! This means that Saeed can be executed at any moment, in a matter of days. PLEASE DO ALL THAT YOU CAN TO HELP SAVE THE LIFE OF SAEED MALEKPOUR.

Here is a link to Urgent Action items for Saeed that take less than 1 minute to do! Please Share:

http://royahayesabz.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/urgent-action-stop-iranian-canadian-saeed-malekpours-execution-case-sent-to-implementation/

Here is a news article reporting on Saeed's case being sent for implementation:

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1132818--iran-moves-saeed-malekpour-s-death-sentence-ahead-prompting-canadian-outrage?bn=1

Amnesty's Appeal for Saeed (which will be posted soon at this link:)

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/008/2012/en

**Update Jan 30, 2012**

Saeed Malekpour's death sentence has been UPHELD and the appeal was denied in the Supreme Court. His death sentence is now IMMINENT. Please sign this petition and share with all of your friends to help save Saeed's life! Since recently last year, imminent execution sentences have been ordered to be carried out after being confirmed and upheld. His wife Fatemeh in Canada is asking for ALL of our help, please also write an email made by United 4 Iran as well:

http://united4iran.org/2012/01/take-action-web-developer-still-at-risk-of-execution/

For updates and actions for Saeed, please join "Free Saeed Malekpour" Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpour

Persian listeners, video: SAEED'S SISTER TALKS TO VOA BRIEFLY ABOUT THE BRUTAL TORTURES HER BROTHER HAS ENDURED IN PRISON. VOA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9MF_1GfzY4

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Saeed Malekpour is a 35-year-old prisoner of conscience who was detained on October 4, 2008 while visiting his terminally ill father in Iran, and was charged with being involved in “internet offenses”, all of which he denies. The charges brought against Malekpour include “Taking action against national security by designing and moderating adult content websites;” “Agitation against the regime;” “Contact with foreign entities;” “Insulting the sanctity of Islam;” and “Insulting the Supreme Leader and President.” He could be charged as “Corrupter of the Earth” (Mofsed fel-Arz), a charge that is punishable by the DEATH SENTENCE. Saeed continues to deny these allegations.

Saeed graduated from Sharif University of Technology with a Metrology Engineering degree. He has worked as an expert in Iran Khodro (Iran’s biggest car manufacturer) and as an inspector in Garma Felez corporation. He has also worked for the Razi Research Centre. Last year, he was admitted to a master’s program at the University of Victoria (in the province of British Columbia, Canada). In 2004, Saeed and his wife moved to Canada, where he became a permanent resident. He began work as a freelance website developer & programmer responsible for developing only parts of websites or portions involving, for example, IT system management and system security.

While working as developer in Canada, Saeed designed a program that would allow his clients to upload pictures, and as a common courtesy in programming, included his name and info in the file. This program, Saeed’s wife – Dr. Fatimeh Eftekhari – explains, was used in an adult content website WITHOUT Saeed’s knowledge or approval. “The only recognizable name in the program was Saeed’s,” she continued, “which led to his arrest” and to the accusations claiming that Saeed was responsible for the development and administration of the website.

In an open letter, Saeed described the horrific physical and psychological tortures he endured at the hands of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard which pressured him into false confessions. Since his arrest, Saeed remains confined in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison without indictment or access to a lawyer. Saeed has spent more than 12 months in solitary confinement and denied books, newspapers, and contact with the outside world.

In a excerpt of the letter from Saeed Malekpour, you can read about the horrible events that have unfolded since his arrest by the hands of his interrogators:

"...On January 24, 2009, after being subject to severe beatings, one of the interrogators threatened to pull out my tooth with a pair of tongs. One of my tooth broke and my jaw was displaced after I was kicked in the face by him. However, the physical tortures were nothing compared to the psychological torments. I endured long solitary confinement time (totalling to more than one year) without phone calls or the possibility of visiting my loved ones, constant threats to arrest and torture my wife and family if I did not cooperate, threats to kill me. They also provided me with false news of arresting my wife. My mental health was severely threatened. I had no acces to any books or journals in the solitary cells, and at times, I would not speak to anybody for days.

Restrictions and psychological pressures on me and my family grew so much that after my father’s passing on March 16, 2009, and despite the fact that the officials were aware of his death, kept the news from me for approximately 40 days. When I had a five minute (supervised) phone call with home, I learned of my father’s death.

Masoud, one of the interrogators, burst into laughter and mocked me once he saw me crying about the news of my father’s death. Despite my pleas, they did not allow me to attend my father’s memorial service. In addition to the psychological tortures, the Revolutionary Guards interrogation team illegally, and contrary to religious principles, withdrew some funds from my credit card account. They also have my Paypal account. I am not sure what they have done with it.

Another example of psychological torture involved forcing me to perform scenarios dictated by the Revolutionary Guards interrogators in front of the camera. Although the interrogation team had promised me these films would never be aired on TV, and they would only be shown to regime officials to receive a larger budget for their “Gerdaab” project. However, I found out later on that the films were shown numerous times on state television during the seventh day funeral service for my father. This resulted in severe emotional pain for my family. My mother suffered from a heart attack after seeing my picture and false confessions on television. Some of the confession they forced me to make were so ridiculous and far-fetched that they are not even possible.

For example, they asked me to falsely confess to purchasing software from the UK and then posting on my website for sale. I was forced to add that when somebody visited my website, the software would be, without his/her knowledge, installed on their computer and would take control of their webcam, even when their webcam is turned off. Although I told them that what they were suggesting was impossible from a technological point of view, they responded that I should not concern myself with such things..."

Sources: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6160/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4449

http://www.astreetjournalist.com/2010/03/28/imprisoned-tech-expert-saeed-malekpour-writes-of-torture/

http://persian2english.com/?p=15785

We want freedom for habib latifi

Sun, 7 Nov 2010 04:13 UTC

Mr. Habbibolah Latifi is a 28 years old Kurdish student who was arrested in October of 2007.

Mr. Latifi was tortured brutally and was hospitalized twice as a result of torture while he was in custody.

We Nominate Karroubi for Peace Prize

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:24 UTC

Please sign our petition to lobby for Mehdi Karroubi to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his outstanding contribution to human rights in Iran.

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:35 UTC

Amir Hekmati

Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
August 29, 2012

Today marks one year since Iranian authorities detained U.S. citizen Amir Hekmati. We are relieved that Iran’s Supreme Court overturned the death sentence verdict, but remain troubled by Mr. Hekmati’s lack of legal rights and Iran’s continued refusal to allow consular access by Swiss authorities, the United States’ protecting power in Iran.

Mr. Hekmati now has spent a year in prison on charges that are categorically false, and he endured a closed-door trial with little regard for fairness and transparency. We remain concerned over reports of Mr. Hekmati’s health condition in prison and urge the Iranian Government to release him so that he may be reunited with his family.

Source : US Department Of State
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/08/197000.htm

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UPDATE : New York Times, July 10 2013

Hopes Rise for Appeal of Ex-Marine Held in Iran
By By RICK GLADSTONE
New York Times, July 10 2013

Prison life has markedly improved in recent weeks for Amir Hekmati, the former Marine incarcerated for nearly two years in Iran on spying accusations. His sister said he was now allowed weekly visits from three Iranian relatives, books, daily exercise and a regular correspondence of letters with family in the United States.

His sister, Sarah Hekmati, who shared two of the letters, said Mr. Hekmati was also attending Persian language classes in Evin Prison in Tehran and had started to teach English to fellow inmates. She said that the two uncles and an aunt who had visited him said he was sounding increasingly positive and optimistic.

“Even from his letters, he’s embraced this as a test, as a way of reshaping him,” Ms. Hekmati said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “He feels like he’s been productive.”

The improved circumstances, she said, strengthened the family’s hope that Iran’s judiciary, which threw out his original conviction for espionage but has not yet announced a retrial, would favorably review a legal appeal for his release prepared by Mr. Hekmati’s Iranian counsel.

“Our relatives on the ground say people are optimistic,” Ms. Hekmati said.

It was unclear whether the eased prison conditions were related to the presidential elections in Iran last month, in which a moderate cleric, Hassan Rowhani, defeated his more conservative rivals. Mr. Rowhani, who has said he wants to find ways to improve Iran’s estranged relations with the United States, is scheduled to take office in early August.

There has also been speculation that Mr. Hekmati may be among the inmates in Iran’s penal system who are sometimes granted clemency or reduced sentences during Ramadan, the monthlong Muslim holiday that began Wednesday in Iran.

So far, however, there has been no word from the Iranian authorities on the disposition of Mr. Hekmati’s case, which has become something of an emotional cause in his home state, Michigan, and an additional source of Iranian-American tensions.

Mr. Hekmati learned during his incarceration that his father, a college professor in Flint, has brain cancer, which has made his relatives more anxious about when Mr. Hekmati might be freed.

Senator Carl Levin, the longtime Michigan Democrat, spoke on the Senate floor on June 12 calling for Mr. Hekmati’s release, noting that even Iran’s Supreme Court had found the evidence against him deeply flawed and that Iranian officials had yet to make clear what charges, if any, he might face.

Mr. Hekmati, who spent four years in the Marines and turns 30 on July 28, was arrested in August 2011, interrupting what his family has described as an innocuous visit with his grandmothers. He disappeared for three months, before the Iranian authorities paraded him in a heavily edited television broadcast as a C.I.A. spy.

He was tried and sentenced to be executed, but the verdict was overturned and in March 2012 a new trial was ordered.

Mr. Hekmati has remained in Evin Prison throughout, however, with little access to outside counsel. He spent many months in solitary confinement and went on a hunger strike.

His family has said conditions began to improve only this past March, when an uncle was allowed to visit for the first time and Mr. Hekmati was permitted to send a few letters home, in which he apologized for having caused his family so much angst.

Until a few weeks ago, his sister said, Mr. Hekmati had been receiving visits just once a month from the uncle, their mother’s brother. Now, she said, he is receiving visits every Monday, and the visitors included his father’s brother and sister.

In one of his recent letters to their mother that Ms. Hekmati shared, he sought to reassure the family that he was doing well. “I am living a very healthy life here,” he wrote. “There are very good people here. In regards to food we have everything we need. I attend language classes and I exercise daily. Please forgive me for being a source of your worries.”

He also wrote, “I have a good feeling that this situation will be resolved soon, God willing.”

Mr. Hekmati described his anguish over his father’s cancer and beseeched him to “stay strong and do not worry about me at all.”

SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/11/world/middleeast/hopes-rise-for-appeal-of-ex-marine-held-in-iran.html?_r=1&

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UPDATE CNN MARCH 8 , 2013

Family pleads for release of former Marine imprisoned in Iran
By Elise Labott

A year ago this week, an Iranian court threw out the death penalty conviction of a former U.S. Marine accused of spying and ordered a retrial.

After the death sentence was overturned, his family in Michigan held out hope Amir Hekmati would be released.

Instead, he has spent the past year in solitary confinement at Iran's notorious Evin Prison.

Hekmati was detained by Iranian authorities in August 2011 during a two-week visit to see his grandmother. Iranian authorities accused him spying on behalf of the CIA, a charge the family and the Obama administration deny.

Born in Arizona and raised in Nebraska before settling in Flint, Michigan, with his family, Hekmati joined the Marines out of high school. He finished his service four years later as a decorated combat veteran for tours in Iraq.

Afterward, he worked as a contractor as an Arabic translator and helped to train troops with cultural sensitivity.

Ramy Kurdi, who is married to Hekmati's eldest sister, said in an interview that his brother-in-law was honest with the Iranian Interest Section in Washington about his service when he applied for a visa.

"He told his mom, 'I have nothing to hide.' And after he disclosed this to the Iranians, they told him he would be welcomed in Iran and would have no problem," Kurdi said.

His family followed instructions by the Iranian government to remain silent about his arrest and suggested his release could come in a few months.

Three months later, in December, Hekmati appeared on Iranian state television maintaining he was sent to Iran by the CIA, a performance Kurdi said was a forced confession made under duress.

Although Hekmati's death sentence, imposed after a closed-door trial, was overturned and set for retrial, there have been no new legal proceedings and the government has not been communicating with the family.

"To have the death sentence overturned is a great victory, but for him to continue to be punished for something when the court said there is not enough evidence is so painful for us to deal with as a family," Kurdi said.

In January 2012, the Iranian government permitted Hekmati's mother to visit him in prison, but kept her from her son during two subsequent visits. Repeated requests by the family for his court-appointed lawyer to visit him have been denied.

Evin Prison is where American hikers Sharah Shourd, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were imprisoned on charges of spying after crossing the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009 before ultimately being released. Bauer and Fattal were released two days after Hekmati's arrest.

Recently, Hekmati was moved out of solitary confinement to the general prison population, after a month-long hunger strike which left him unconscious and needing medical treatment. An uncle who lives in Iran was able to visit him in prison last month.

His family is concerned about Hekmati's heath, but is also in a race against the clock to get him home with his father, a biology professor who is battling terminal cancer. Hekmati does not know about his father's illness.

"We have no idea how much longer his father has," Kurdi said. "We just hope how ever long he has he gets to enjoy it with his whole family, with Amir home."

The family is hoping Hekmati can be released as a humanitarian gesture for the Persian New Year on March 20.

"Our family is not political," Kurdi said. We are Americans. Amir is an American citizen. We are not trying to involve ourselves in the politics between Iran and the U.S."

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UPDATE HUFFINGTON POST 5 MARCH , 2013

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's Supreme Court has ordered the retrial of an ex-U.S. Marine who was sentenced to death on charges of working for the CIA, a news agency reported Monday.

The case has added even more tension to U.S.-Iran relations, as Washington and its allies press ahead with sanctions over Iran's contentious nuclear development program, and Iran threatens punishing retaliation if it is attacked.

Amir Hekmati, 28, was sentenced to death in January, the first American to receive a death penalty since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Hekmati was born in Arizona. His parents are of Iranian origin.

Iran accuses Hekmati of receiving special training while serving at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before heading to Iran for an intelligence mission.

In December, Iran broadcast a video on state television in which Hekmati was shown delivering a purported confession and said he was part of a plot to infiltrate Iran's intelligence agency.

The U.S. government and his family have denied the charges against Hekmati.

On Monday, the semiofficial Isna news agency said the case would be retried.

The report quoted state prosecutor Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehei as saying, "There was an appeal on his verdict. The Supreme Court found shortcomings in the case and sent it for review by an equivalent branch" in the court system.

The report did not elaborate.

Last month Hekmati's mother visited him in prison and met with Iranian officials. Some saw this as a sign that Iran might show moderation in the case.

A lawyer for the family, Pierre Prosper, welcomed word of the retrial. Prosper said he is "waiting for official confirmation, but we are pleased with reports coming out of Tehran."

Prosper said the family is looking forward to working with the Iranian government. The lawyer said an appeal has been in the works and progress in the case may be unrelated to the escalating pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.

Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Michigan chapter, described the news of the new trial "as a positive development." His organization sent a letter in January appealing for clemency to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader.

"We're hopeful that Mr. Hekmati will get a fair trial with transparency," Walid said.

A previous incident involving Americans in Iran was resolved, but only after two years.

In 2009, three U.S. citizens were detained along the Iraq border. The three said they crossed the border unintentionally during a hike. They, too, were charged with espionage, but there were no specific allegations of CIA ties and training as in the case of Hekmati.

The three were sent to prison. One was released for medical reasons and the other two were freed last September, in deals involving bail payments brokered by Oman, which has good relations with both Iran and the U.S.

National Security writer Anne Gearan in Washington and Jeff Karoub in Detroit, Mich. contributed to this report.

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UPDATE 9 January , 2013

Today marks the 500th day Amir
has been a prisoner in Iran.

Source : Free Amir Hekmati
https://www.facebook.com/FreeAmirHekmati?fref=ts

Update OCTOBER 10, 2012

Family of Former Marine Jailed In Iran Pleads for Prisoner’s Freedom:

http://www.theworld.org/2012/10/marine-jailed-iran/

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Update September 25 , 2012

FreeAmirwebstream:

Amir Hekmati went missing in Iran over a year ago. These are the pieces to the puzzle that have been discovered so far. This is our campaign dedicated to bringing him home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgpYNWezA4c&feature=plcp

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Update September 24 , 2012

M Live Sunday, September 23, 2012
By Roberto Acosta

NOVI, MI – Ali Hekmati laid in a hospital bed Sunday afternoon, his wife standing by his side, with a sign stating “Get Well Soon Baba Joon” from his daughter's two grandchildren.

Ali and wife Behnaz Hekmati, of Flint Township, have made the room into a makeshift home for several days, following a hemorrhage in Ali’s head and removal of a tumor Wednesday at Providence Park Hospital in Novi.

During his time before surgery, Behnaz and her daughter Leila Hekmati, said Ali kept asking for one thing: Amir Hekmati.

Amir Hekmati was jailed in Iran on Aug. 29, 2011, two weeks after he traveled to the country to visit his grandmother that helped raise him and other family members.

The family hopes their pleas for Amir’s return home to care for his family will be heard during a scheduled visit this week by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

LINK : https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=414097481972498&set=a.161698443879071.31733.160217554027160&type=1&theater

Update : July 27, 2012

Family of ex-Marine held in Iran has little news

The family of an ex-U.S. Marine sentenced to death for spying in Iran said Friday that members have received little information about his case months after a new trial was reportedly ordered.

Amir Hekmati was accused of working for the CIA and sentenced to death in January, the first American to receive a death penalty since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. His family and the U.S. government have denied the allegations.

The semiofficial ISNA news agency reported in March that Iran's Supreme Court ordered a retrial for Hekmati.

His family released a statement Friday saying it had received "little and confusing information" about his case since then. The statement also noted that Saturday is his 29th birthday and included a prayer that he would be "given the strength to endure."

"While it is still unclear to us what is happening, we hope a decision is made soon and you are allowed to come home to your family," the statement said. "We continue to believe there is a terrible misunderstanding."

Iran has accused Hekmati of receiving special training while serving at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before heading to Iran for an intelligence mission. In December, Iran broadcast a video on state television in which Hekmati was shown delivering a purported confession, saying he was part of a plot to infiltrate Iran's intelligence agency.

Hekmati was born in Arizona and grew up in Michigan, where his father Ali Hekmati teaches at Mott Community College in Flint. His parents are of Iranian origin.

"Your birthday is particularly difficult for mom _ a reminder of when her first son was born, and your twin sister, who shares this special day," the statement said.

SOURCE : Globe Gazette

Update 2012-03-05

Iranian Court Annuls Death Sentence For Amir Hekmati American Accused of Spying

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- An Iranian court has canceled the death sentence for an American accused of espionage in Iran, semi-official news agencies there reported Monday.

Iran's intelligence ministry sentenced Amir Mirzaei Hekmati to death in January, but the nation's Supreme Court annulled that sentence, ISNA news agency reported Monday.

The overturned verdict means that a lower court will review the case, Fars news agency said, citing Iran's attorney general.

Another lower court previously had convicted the 28-year-old of "working for an enemy country," as well as membership in the CIA and "efforts to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorism," the news agencies have reported.

The status of his case was not immediately clear Monday.

The U.S. State Department has strongly condemned his conviction.

"Allegations that Mr. Hekmati either worked for or was sent to Iran by the CIA are simply untrue," department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said earlier this year. "The Iranian regime has a history of falsely accusing people of being spies, of eliciting forced confessions, and of holding innocent Americans for political reasons."

Hekmati's family also denies the allegations.
Hekmati was arrested in August while visiting his grandmother and other relatives, his family in Michigan said.

The Hekmatis said their son served in the U.S. Marines from 2001 to 2005. Later, he started his own linguistics company and contracted his services to the military as well as civilian businesses.

His military contracts included cultural competency training. He worked with troops at military bases to promote understanding and positive communication with people of other cultures, his family said.

Update 2012-01 -10 Amir Mirzaie Hekmati, an American sentenced to death in Iran for espionage.

Iranian state television aired what it called a "confession" by 28-year-old Amir Hekmati over the weekend. His family said Tuesday that he was arrested in August while visiting his grandmother and other relatives in Iran, and that his statement had to have been coerced.

The Arizona-born, Michigan-raised Hekmati joined the Marines in August 2001, after high school. His four-year hitch included an assignment to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and a six-month deployment in Iraq in 2004, according to U.S. military records.

In 2006, after leaving the service, he started his own linguistics company and began offering his services as an English-to-Arabic translator, according to Michigan incorporation records. He contracted his services to the military as well as civilian businesses, offering training in cultural competency and working with troops at military bases to promote understanding of and positive communication with people of other cultures, his family said.

In 2010, he spent five months working as a research manager for defense contractor BAE, company spokesman Brian Roehrkasse told CNN. And Condon said Hekmati recently worked for a company that produced language-training material for the U.S. military.

The United States and Iran have no direct diplomatic relations, but Hekmati's family said he made the trip after obtaining permission from the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington. The interests section has not responded to CNN requests for comment.

News of Hekmati's detention is the latest turn in a series of allegations of espionage and plotting between Washington and Tehran, following the capture of a U.S. surveillance drone by Iran, Iranian claims to have arrested a dozen CIA spies and U.S. allegations that Iran sought to kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States.

Hekmati's family said that after his August 29 arrest, Iranian officials told them to remain silent "with the promise of an eventual release," but they went public after Iranian television aired the accusations and Hekmati's statement on Sunday.

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 04:44 UTC

کمپین اعتراض سبز در راستای دفاع از خواست عمومی مردم ایران پیرامون آزادی یاران همیشگی جنبش سبز و با همکاری جمعی از هموطنان، در مرداد ماه ۱۳۹۰ اقدام به راه اندازی کارزاری برای شکست حصر غیر قانونی اقایان میر حسین موسوی و مهدی کروبی و خانم ها زهرا رهنورد و فاطمه کروبی نموده است. در گام اول این کارزار، نامه ای اعتراضی از سوی این کمپین تهیه و تنظیم شده است که پس از جمع اوری امضای ایرانیان در سراسر دنیا، به مراجع حقوقی و دیپلماتیک زیر ارسال خواهد شد.

۱- دبیرکل سازمان ملل
۲- سفیران کشورها در سازمان ملل
۳- کمیسر عالی حقوق بشر سازمان ملل
۴- گزارشگر ویژه حقوق بشر در ایران
۵- وزرای امور خارجه کشورهای مختلف
۶- هیات روابط پارلمان اروپا با ایران
۷- اعضای شورای امنیت
۸- مسئول سیاست خارجی اتحادیه اروپا
۹- سازمان کشورهای اسلامی OIC
۱۰- کمیته حمایت از ناپدید شدگان قهری سازمان ملل متحد
۱۱- اتحادیه بین‌ المجالس

این نامه که تا به امروز به امضای بیش از ۲۸۰ شخصیت سیاسی، فرهنگی، هنری و اجتماعی و همچنین ۲۱ گروه و تشکل حقوق بشری رسیده است، تا تاریخ دهم سپتامبر ۲۰۱۱ برای کسب امضای علاقمندان در دسترس عموم خواهد بود و پس از آن کمپین اعتراض سبز نهایت تلاش خود را بکار خواهد بست و از تمام ظرفیت های بین المللی و حقوقی ممکن در این مسیر استفاده خواهد کرد تا از طرق مختلف پیگر مطالبات مطرح شده در نامه اعتراضی باشد.

شما نیز می توانید با امضای خود گامی مثبت در جهت شکست حصر یاران جنبش سبز بردارید.

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The Green Protest Campaign together with a group of Iranians are launching a Campaign in August 2011, in line with the Iranian public’s demand calling to end the illegal detention of the Companions of the Green Movement: Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, Zahra Rahnavard and Fatemeh Karroubi. As an initial step of this campaign, a petition has been prepared to obtain signatures from people across the world, addressed to the following officials and international bodies:

1- UN Secretary-General
2- State Ambassadors at the UN
3- United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
4- United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran
5- Ministers of Foreign Affairs
6- EU Inter-parliamentary delegation for relations with Iran
7- UN Security Council
8- High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
9- Organization of Islamic Cooperation
10 – United Nations Human Rights Committee on Enforced Disappearance
11- Inter-Parliamentary Union

The petition has so far has been signed by over 280 political as well as social and cultural figures, in addition to 21 Human Rights groups and organizations. The petition is hereby available until September 10, 2011 to entice general public’s support so as to obtain further signatures. The Green Protest Campaign will subsequently present the petition to all relevant bodies and organizations, utilizing all means available within the international legal framework to pursue the demands of the petition.

You can take a positive step towards ending the illegal detention of the Green Movement Companions, by signing this petition.