Sam Rajabi

He is an environmental activist who was detained by the IRGC in February 2018 during the arrest of a group of environmental activists.

<coverage-outsourcing id='20987'> Several environmental activists were arrested around this time, and transferred to Ward 2A of Evin prison. Kavous Seyyed Emami, Taher Ghadirian, Sam Rajabi, Houman Jokar, Morad Tahbaz, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Niloufar Bayani, Sepideh Kashani, Hassan Ragh, Aref Zare, Mohammad Zare, Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, Morteza Arianejad, Alireza Farhadzadeh and Mohammad Saleh Ahmadi are among those arrested in relation to this case, by the IRGC Department of Intelligence. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21327'> HRANA, quoting BBC, reported that the families of the detainees were told during their visit to Evin Prison that the detainees "are still banned from family visits and their interrogation period has been extended until the 25th of March." </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21002'> Leili Houshmand Afshar, Sam Rajabi’s mother, stated in an interview with the Center for Human Rights that she has absolutely no information about his current condition, and has not had any contact with him since his arrest. She also noted that officers came to their residence along with her son at 10 pm on January 30th, and left at 4 am the next day taking certain books and papers with them. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21569'> According to ISNA, the Tehran prosecutor, in addition to posing the charge of “espionage” through “collecting systematic data in the areas of missiles and defense,” has also accused them of “pursuing a three-pronged project in assisting the CIA and MUSAD in researching environmental data, infiltrating the Iranian Scientific Community, and gathering classified information from secret national sites including missile bases. It is claimed that the accused were ‘seeking to complete a joint mission along with the CIA and MUSAD in order to create various environmental crises in the country. Furthermore, ISNA has accused members of the Institute for Persian Heritage and Wildlife Preservation of ‘strategically placing cameras under the guise of observing environmental patterns, for the purpose of monitoring national missile activities, which would then be recorded and sent to foreign agents.” </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21007'> Houman Jowkar, Taher Ghadirian, Sam Rajabi, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Niloufar Bayani and Sepideh Kashani were able to contact their families. A family member of those arrested told the Center for Human Rights that “they called and only said ‘I’m doing well. Don’t worry about me,’ after which the phone got disconnected.” A reliable source close to the families of those arrested told the Center that “the families continue to be under pressure not to have any media communication or interviews, and have been warned that any such communication will be to the detriment of their children.” </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21061'> Four UN Human Rights experts have issued a statement calling for the immediate release and withdrawal of criminal charges against Iranian environmental activists. In this statement, while expressing concern over the targeting of such activists by security officials, they have called these arrests ‘inexcusable’, deeming suggestions of connection between environmental protection efforts and crimes such as ‘espionage’ and ‘acting against the state’ ’to be “hard to fathom.” Furthermore, they have called the “flimsy” accusations against Kavous Seyyed Emami to be part of a “foul, disturbing” game, thereby asking Iranian officials for an impartial and effective investigation into the death of Mr. Seyyed Emami. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21090'> Katayoun Rajabi, Sam Rajabi's sister, expressed concern over her brother's situation in an interview with BBC. "I do not have any news from him, I do not know where he is, I do not know what institution has arrested him and what the cause is," she said in the interview. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21104'> The Center for Human Rights, in an interview with an informed source, reported that the detainees have not been charged yet or if they have, the charges have not been disclosed publicly, they were denied access to a lawyer and they had still not seen their families, six weeks after their arrest. The source has added that the families of the detainees, along with several university professors and colleagues of detainees, met with some of the parliamentarians, and spoke to the representatives about the installed cameras, the Cheetah project, and the areas in which they worked and how they worked. However, they have received no news from these representatives, as well as from the four-member committee that Hassan Rouhani had formed, following up on the death of Kavous Seyyed Emami and the situation of the detained environmental activists. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21402'> In an interview with the Center for Human Rights, an informed source announced that the arrest of detainees has been extended until the 25th of March. He added that except for Niloufar Bayani, none of the detainees had met with their families since their detention, and their lawyers were not allowed to meet with the client and enter the case. He also told the Center about Alireza Farhadzadeh: > Alireza's condition is worse than the rest of the detainees, since no news of him has been available since his arrest, and he has not even had a telephone call. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21549'> Katayoun Rajabi, Sam Rajabi's sister, told BBC that her mother has been able to visit her brother in the first week of March. She added that Sam Rajabi "did not have a good mental situation, had been in solitary confinement for two months, has lost a lot of weight and was shaking". Ms. Rajabi also mentioned the demand for a lawyer: > Why is the law not enforced? Why don't they give permission to the lawyer? The attorney sent the power of attorney so that Sam signs it, but they announced last week that they had lost the power of attorney. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21744'> Katayoun Rajabi, sister of Sam Rajabi, told BBC that after their mother went to Evin Prison, the prosecutor's representative granted the permission to visit Sam, but the magistrate rejected it. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21745'> Tehran's prosecutor repeated the espionage charges and claimed that environmental activists were covers to get around the country's intelligence. He said "In one of the defendants' remarks, it is revealed that he was trained abroad and traveled to the country and carried out similar actions in the foreign sphere. One of the defendants received monthly salaries, had a secure computer, reported on a monthly basis and would go to the embassy related to the service in London or other countries, and had exchanged information." Jafari Dolatabadi also made a claim about Kaveh Madani, a former deputy of the environmental organization: > If people prefer to escape, this is due to the importance of preliminary investigations in the case, and if today we read on some sites that the deputy has left the country, it goes back to the investigation, because some defendants have realized that we are approaching them. Now, if someone has left the country, they will finally return. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21780'> Nearly 800 environmental activists sent a letter to the president, asking him to urgently address the situation of detained environmental activists and pay attention to their rights as detainees. "It is astonishing that all the activities and efforts made by Iran's environmental community in the last few decades to raise public awareness and to tackle the water crisis, climate change, the destruction of biodiversity and other environmental problems that require contact with professors and foreign universities, sampling natural areas with equipment such as telephoto cameras, as well as research and executive activities in official projects approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Forestry and Rangeland Organization, or attracting funds for protective projects from the related institutions are now considered suspicious and criminal." They called on the president to create a safe environment for environmental activists, to defend the rights of the accused and to prevent the mentioning of unproved allegations in the media, and to announce the results of the four-member committee's investigation formed by the president's order to investigate the case. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='22084'> Leili Houshmand Afshar, Sam Rajabi’s mother, was able to visit him in Evin prison. She gave this news in an interview with the Center for Human Rights in Iran, adding that her son’s mental condition had improved since her first visit. Furthermore, she added that she’d been told by the authorities not to speak about the kind of charges against her son, not to talk about the availability of a lawyer, not to speak any foreign languages, and not to hug or kiss her son. She was informed that a lawyer would not have access to her son’s file until the start of court proceedings. Previously, Mahmoud Behzadi, Sam Rajabi’s lawyer, had informed the Center that he and other lawyers advocating on behalf of environmental activists have all issued their respective ‘Power of Attorney’ documentation as of February 4th. Nonetheless, those arrested are not even informed that they have legal representation. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='22123'> Azar Sedaghati, an environmental activist, posted on her Instagram page about 40 local residents and two rangers in Bandar Lengeh in Hormozgan province. She said the houses of all these people were searched and the communications devices were all seized. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='22095'> Mahmoud Sadeghi wrote on his Twitter account that during a meeting with his fellow MPs, the intelligence minister "explicitly, and documentally announced that they have not found any reason to deem the environmental activists to be spies." </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='22616'> Isa Kalantari, head of the Environmental Protection Agency said: > Based on the assessment of the four-member government's committee, environmental activists should be released. He emphasized that there is no evidence that they are spies. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='22745'> Mohammad Reza Tabesh, chairman of the environmental fraction of Parliament, said that according to experts from the Ministry of Intelligence, the environmental activists are not spies. He also talked about the condition of Kavous Seyyed Emami's wife: > We demanded the matter to be addressed but we have not yet received a response from the relevant authorities. Furthermore, Masoumeh Ebtekar, Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, said: > The case of environmental activists will close shortly and detainees will be released. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='22813'> Katayoun Rajabi, the sister of Sam Rajabi, in an open letter to Hassan Rouhani, complained about the continued arrest of environmental activists and the lack of accountability of the judiciary and security authorities. She urged the president to address this matter. In her letter, she cites the unclear nature of the organization that arrested her brother, bringing charges by the prosecutor and the state television without holding a trial, more than two months of interrogation without legal presentation, giving promises to families for regular meetings and failure to meet these promises, failure to allow regular phone calls, the manner of the magistrate behavior and threats to execute the prisoners in the event of further follow-up and lack of accountability on the part of the officials despite the Intelligence Minister's acknowledgment that the detainees are not spies. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='23113'> Citing a source close to the families of the environmental activists, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran published a report on the commencement of interrogations in the Revolutionary Guard clause 2 of Evin Prison. The informed source told the Campaign that last week, when the families last visited their loved ones, "Sam Nurse Rajabi was wounded, his teeth had been broken by Tahir Ghadirian, and Niloufar had been sent blindfolded to her family." Sam Rajabi's mother also mentioned that her son looked "weak, lean and pale." </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='23404'> In a letter addressed to the heads of the three government branches, the families of the arrested environmental activists called for transparency in the status of the environmental activists in ward 2A of Evin prison. Pointing out that eight of the detainees were still deprived of having attorneys, they have said, "The President's Special Investigation Board, the Minister of Intelligence and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency have officially announced that the espionage charges that have been made to detain the environmental activists are unsubstantial, and have demanded their release. The spokesman for the judiciary has also announced the end of the investigation period. However, our loved ones are still in temporary custody." In another part of the letter, they called for a delegation of parliamentarians and government representatives to meet with the detainees to discuss their cases. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='25715'> According to Amnesty International, Sam Rajabi, was charged with “co-operating with hostile states against the Islamic Republic” and “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security.” </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='25700'> According to IPA, five trial sessions were held for environmental activists in early 2019 on 30 Jan, February 2, 12, 13 and 18. In the next month, at least three further sessions were held. In some trial sessions, not all activists were present. Some sessions were held without the lawyers </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='23838'> The first session of the environmental activists’ trial was held under the chairmanship of Judge Salavati. In this session, half of the three-hundred-page indictment was read. According to the reports, Niloufar Bayani repeatedly protested to the judge that her confessions had been acquired under torture. She said: “If you were also threatened, like I was, to get an injection, you would have confessed.” Some attorneys were not invited to this session. Meanwhile, MP Mahmoud Sadeghi announced that the Supreme National Security Council also studied the case and did not consider the activities of these prisoners as “cases of espionage.” It was previously reported that Tehran’s prosecutor has changed the charge of some environmental activists from “espionage” to the heavier charge “corruption on earth,” after receiving a letter from the army. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='25707'> The trial will take place this week, the Judiciary spokesperson said </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='26177'> His sister, Kati Rajabi, wrote on Twitter: “About 10 months ago, an order to cease prosecution was issued for Sami. But he remains under temporary arrest. In the beginning of the court in January, he was told that he’ll be released only if he dismissed his lawyer! Sami was fooled and I was fooled again and again and believed this to be true.” </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='26425'> Speaking to Khabar Online, Isa Kalantari, head of Iran’s Environment Organization, said the arrest was illegal and added: “The intelligence minister has officially declared that these people have not committed any crimes but a parallel intelligence operation claims them to be criminals. I am duty-bound to declare the opinion of the Intelligence Ministry since the constitutions tasks this ministry with deciding who is a spy.” He also said that the Judiciary has barred his organization from intervening in this case </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='27508'> The third channel of Islamic Republic TV, broadcast a program called “Documentary of the usual suspects”. this program aired just for three minutes. According to network officials, there were technical issues for broadcasting. In the early minutes of the program, Kavous Seyed Emami and Morad Tahbaz were introduced as affiliates of foreign intelligence services </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='27582'> According to the BBC, environmental activists' verdicts issued by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Salavati. Morad Tahbaz and Niloufar Bayani were individually sentenced to 6 years, each of Taher Ghadirian and Hooman Jokar sentenced to 8 years, and each of Sepideh Kashani and Amir Hossein Khaleghi sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment. Sam Rajabi and Abdolreza Kouhpayeh's verdicts were probably issued and will be announced soon, according to lawyer Mohammad Hossein Aghasi's interview with Iran International. In addition to Mrs. Bayani's prison sentence, she has been sentenced to pay cash equal to six years of pay at the United Nations. The charges will be cited and listed in the statistical section, after accessing the details </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='27609'> According to the reports, Sam Rajabi has been sentenced to six years and Abdolreza Kouhpayeh to four years of imprisonment. Legal provisions that condemn environmental activists are unknown </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='27901'> Sam Rajabi has been taken to the prison’s infirmary for his "hemorrhoids" problem. The infirmary authorities requested his transfer to the hospital for surgery, but his transfer has been prevented </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='29583'> <reference source='https://twitter.com/andersen_inger/status/1237255870628745216'> Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, tweeted about the release of one of eight environmental activists named Abdolreza Kouhpayeh and called for the release of other environmentalists </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='29671'> According to IPA, He was transferred to the hospital on suspicion of Coronavirus. His Coronavirus test was negative, and the doctor diagnosed the flu for him. Subsequently, he was returned to prison </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='30268'> Sam Rajabi, who was taken to hospital for surgery, has got Coronavirus. It was determined that Mr. Rajabi had Coronavirus at pre-operative testing, and was returned to prison. It should be noted that He was detained in a 15-person room in Ward 4 along with Hooman Jokar, Morad Tahbaz, and Siamak Namazi. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='30942'> <reference source='https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/fa/case/sam-rajabi-incommunicado-detention'> The Front Line Defenders organization issued a statement calling for Sam Rajabi's release and medical care after he became infected with the coronavirus. The statement expressed concerns about the situation of Mr. Rajabi's prison cellmate </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='30829'> <reference source='https://bit.ly/3c5Pvo1'> He was returned to Evin Prison a few weeks after the operation. After the operation, his body was infected and treated. "My client is currently in a good health condition.", Mahmoud Behzadirad, his lawyer, told Rokna </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='33243'> <reference source='https://united4iran.org/en/15prisoners'> United for Iran published the fact patterns and legal analyses of Sam Rajabi's case, taking into consideration human rights and fair trial violations based on international treaties to which the IRI is a signatory. The Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) has been used as the lead document for this context. United for Iran has published similar fact patterns for 14 other political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, and has called on UN institutions to use these resources to file cases and follow up on their situations </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>