Drop all charges & Release Zia Nabavi!

*UPDATE JULY 28TH, 2011*

Zia Nabavi, student and activist, sentenced to 10 years in prison and exile, there are concerns that he might be transferred back to the horrible Karoun prison, due to the fact 10 other political prisoners have been transferred.

He had recently written a letter in May 2011 to Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of the Human Rights Council of the Iranian Judiciary, about the appalling conditions in Karoun prison, and in response, he and other political prisoners were transferred to Ahvaz Clinic (still bad conditions, but better than Karoun).

More info: http://persian2english.com/?p=22381

*UPDATE SEPT 27TH, 2010*

Please sign for him!

Zia Nabavi was severely beaten and held in solitary confinement for 48 hours upon arriving to Karoun prison in Ahvaz!! He was detained on June 15, 2009 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Appeals Court reduced the sentence to 10 years exile in Izeh prison. His exile sentence in Izeh was later changed to Karoun prison.

Read further: http://persian2english.com/?p=14752

*UPDATE!!!! JULY 2ND 2010*

ZIA NABAVI IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION IN HOSPITAL AFTER SUFFERING A NERVOUS BREAK DOWN IN PRISON. PLEASE SIGN & READ FURTHER: http://persian2english.com/?p=12426

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Drop all charges & Release Zia Nabavi! A masters student who has been subjected to much torture in prison for wanting right to education!!!!!

Seyyed Ziaoldin Nabavi (Zia Nabavi) was arrested on June 15, 2009 in the course of the events that followed the Presidential election. Since then he has been imprisoned incessantly. He initially was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and 74 lashes, which was later reduced in appellate courts to 10 years imprisonment for one remaining false charge of being in connection with MKO (Mujahedin). Nabavi wants his case to be immediately reviewed, saying he is NOT a part of MKO and was only defending the right to education for *starred students (students banned from universities for speaking out) at Babol University.

Nabavi states: "Believe me, if I am sentenced to 10 years in prison for my activities through a legal & legitimate trial, I will not protest, contingent on that I will be convicted on my true identity as a student activist and a defender of the right to education, and not on fake titles such as opponent, Mohareb, and collaborator with the MKO."

Excerpt of a letter from Zia Nabavi to Sadegh Larijani,

"Honourable Head of Judiciary,

I have already received the verdict of the Appeals Court as I write you this letter. To my astonishment, I have been cleared of all charges except for Moharabeh. Based on the most irrelevant accusations, I was sentenced to ten years in prison to be served in exile in the town of Izeh. I am stating clearly that my activities and my train of thought are so disproportionately different from the accusation against me and the sentence give to me that [I believe] the overall situation surpasses a tragedy. Rather, it resembles a joke.

1- It is clear that my charges were connected to my activities with the Council to Defend the Right to Education, because that was the basis of my interrogation. If we accept the verdict given by the Lower Court and the Appeals Court on my Moharebeh charge, then we can conclude that the charge against me is “enmity against God through defending the right to education.” Does the judiciary system really regard defending the right to education equivalent to a fight against the Islamic establishment?

2-Section 189 of the Islamic Criminal Code states that “Moharebeh and sedition on Earth” are proven through the following methods: a) By confessing once, contingent on that the confessor is mature and of sane mind and that the confession is made under free will b) Through the testimony of two fair men.

Based on the report by the Ministry of Intelligence and based on the indictment, I never confessed to the charge. Also, the testimony of two wise[sic] men is not present in the case. How can you prove my charge of Moharebeh? Is finding me guilty not against the text of the law?

3-Throughout the interrogations, I was under pressure to confess that [the act of] defending the right to education was proposed by the “MKO”. Of course, I never accepted this unjust connection."
....
8. I along with other friends who have been banned from education pursued our case through legal channels for nearly one year in order to return to university. If the claims of the Ministry of Intelligence regarding our suspicious contacts and ties [to the opposition] were true, why was there no form of disciplinary action taken against us before the election? Doesn’t the arrest of nine students the day after the election who were banned from education indicate a kind of revenge on banned students by taking advantage from the news and media vacuum created during that period?

9. I have been a constantly active student during my six years of education and undoubtedly one of the student activists of Babol University. During the Presidential election, I was actively involved in the electoral campaign of one of the reformist candidates. All the activities were within the boundaries of the constitution. Now, how is it that overnight and after the election, I turned into a Mohareb and an opponent?"

Full translation here: http://persian2english.com/?p=11855

Zia Nabavi is asking for only the basic right to education and for a fair trial to be given to him for the remaining charges against him. (No one should even be prosecuted against for wanting to go to college!)