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By admin, August 25, 2009 2:45 pm

Family and friends of Iranian American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh vehemently deny the ludicrous charges being lodged against him today in the 4th of a series of Revolutionary Court show trials. Kian has spent nearly 50 days in illegal captivity in an undisclosed location and without access to a lawyer. He was forced under duress to make statements in the context of the first Revolutionary Court show trial held earlier this month.

The baffling charges being lodged in court today linking Kian together with high-ranking Iranian reformists purportedly plotting to overthrow the regime with foreign support are entirely baseless. Kian is not a member of the Iranian reformist movement and has had no involvement whatsoever in pre- or post-election unrest. According to Iranian state news and as reported by the Associated Press, after the court prosecutor read out charges against the defendants including espionage, contact with foreign elements and acting against national security, Kian was reported to have emphasized that “since I’ve had no contacts with any headquarters inside and outside the country, I have no evidence to prove foreign interference.”

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By admin,

خانواده و دوستان کیان تاجبخش جامعه شناس ومحقق ایرانی- امریکایی به شدت اتهامات بی اساسی را که چهارمین دادگاه نمایشی به او وارد کرده رد میکنند. کیان 50 روز است که در زندان انفرادی در محلی نا معلوم و بدون دسترسی به وکیل گرفتار است. دستگیر کنندگان کیان در یک ماه اخیر از طریق وارد کردن فشار او را مجبور به ابراز بیاناتی در دادگاه های نمایشی کردند.

اتهامات مبهوت کننده ای که روز سه شنبه سوم شهریور در چهارمین جلسه دادگاه نمایشی قرانت شد کیان را به بالا ترین مقامات رفرمیست و توطعه بر اندازی مربوط میکند. این اتهامات کاملا بی اساس اند. کیان عضو جریانات رفرمیستی ایران نیست و به هیچ وجه دخالتی در جریانات اعتراضی قبل و بعد از انتخابات اخیر ایران نداشته است. اسوشیتد پرس در نقل گرارش خبر گزاری رسمی ایران اعلام کرد که بعد از قراعت کیفر خواست در چهارمین دادگاه نمایشی و محکوم کردن مدافعین به جاسوسی, تماس با شخسیت های خارجی و اقدامات بر علیه امنیت کشور, کیان تاکید کرد ” از آنجایی که من ارتباطی با مراکز سیاسی داخل و خارج از کشور نداشته ام هیچ نشانه ای مبنی بر دخالت خارجی نمی بینم.”

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By admin, August 24, 2009 11:37 am

US State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly emphasized on August 25 that the United States government would “obviously be very concerned” if reports of official charges being lodged against Kian in the latest show trial are true, telling reporters:

MR. KELLY: …we have been concerned about [Kian Tajbakhsh’s] detention. We’ve been trying to get information through the Swiss Embassy on him. We have called repeatedly for his release. And this is a man who has worked for many years to help build understanding between the Iranian people and the American people through his scholarly work…”

[Full transcript]

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By admin,

In a report by the Associated Press, the 4th Revolutionary Court show trial prosecutor was reported to have read out charges against Kian including “contact with foreign elements.” Kian was quoted as saying that “since I’ve had no contacts with any headquarters inside and outside the country, I have no evidence to prove foreign interference.”

[Full Article]

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By admin,

BBC News has posted a video report on the 4th Revolutionary Court show trial featuring Kian.

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By admin,

This tehranbureau.com analysis of the show trials mentioning Kian claims that:

“Once again, the “indictment” was not a legal document, but a political manifesto of the hardliners, almost all of which had been published over the past few years by the daily newspaper Kayhan, the mouthpiece of the security-intelligence apparatus, and Fars News Agency, which operates more like a propaganda machine.”

[Full analysis]

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By admin,

An article in The New Yorker entitled “The Iran Show” about the show trials notes that:

“It is one thing to persuade citizens that a narrow band of apparatchiks are enemies of the state. It is quite another to claim that a political agenda with broad support—for popular sovereignty, human rights, due process, freedom of speech—has been covertly planted by foreigners… Forced confessions, so effective in [previous years], convey little more than illegitimacy when they are used against an opposition that is asking for the counting of votes and the rule of law. Today’s show trials are a sign of how much Iran has changed in the past thirty years, and how poorly its regime has kept pace.”

[Full article]

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By admin, August 19, 2009 12:38 pm

Reporting on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s demand that Iran immediately release Kian and other American citizens from unjust detention, Iran’s state PressTV falsely claimed that Kian has been released on bail. PressTV reported on August 15 that Kian “was released on bail, but was prohibited from leaving the country.”

This report is false. Kian continues to be detained in Iran without access to a lawyer. His family and friends have not been informed about the specific charges lodged against him or how long authorities plan to continue holding him.

Secretary Clinton emphasized on August 15 that Kian “has spent his career working to enhance mutual understanding between Iran and the United States. The government of Iran should immediately release Mr. Tajbakhsh from detention and allow him to depart Iran to continue his academic pursuits.” The US State Department has repeatedly called for Kian’s release, with the latest demand issued in its August 17 press briefing.

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family and friends, Hillary Clinton, Iran Arrests, iran crackdown, Iranian elections, Kian Tajbakhsh, Press TV, US State Department

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By admin, August 15, 2009 4:38 am

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has issued a public statement demanding that the Iranian government release Kian immediately:

CLINTON: The United States is deeply concerned about the welfare of our American citizens who have been detained or are missing in Iran. We once again urge Iran’s leadership to quickly resolve all outstanding American citizen cases.

This includes the case of the American scholar, Kian Tajbakhsh, who has spent his career working to enhance mutual understanding between Iran and the United States. The government of Iran should immediately release Mr. Tajbakhsh from detention and allow him to depart Iran to continue his academic pursuits…

Our goal is to ensure the safe return of all our missing or unjustly detained American citizens to the United States as quickly as possible so that they can be reunited with their families.”

[Full statement]

Technorati Tags:
Iran Arrests, Kian Tajbakhsh, US State Department

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By admin, August 10, 2009 7:46 am

The US State Department has issued another statement calling for Kian’s release. Deputy Spokesperson Robert Wood told reporters:

MR. WOOD: Well, let me just say this. The United States condemns the arbitrary arrest, harassment, and detentions that are continuing to take place in Iran. Among those on trial are students, lawyers, human rights activists, journalists, academics, as well as ordinary citizens who are simply seeking their universal right to express themselves peacefully and live their lives free of intimidation. Of particular concern is the continued detention of Iranian American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh. We urge Iran’s leadership to release Mr. Tajbakhsh without further delay. The Iranian Government’s decision to hold individuals such as Kian Tajbakhsh on groundless charges and without the benefit of legal representation clearly violates its international obligations.

[Full text of US State Department press briefing]

Technorati Tags:
Iran Arrests, iran crackdown, Iranian Election, Kian Tajbakhsh, show trials, televised show trials, US, US State Department

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By admin, August 6, 2009 10:47 pm

“The false imprisonment of Iranian/American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh and 100 other activists involved in the ongoing democracy movement in Iran deserves our immediate attention.

Continue reading 'Sting Makes Appeal for Kian Tajbakhsh and Iranian Detainees'»

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By admin,

پنجشنبه 6 آگست 2009

بازداشت نادرستِ محقق ایرانی- امریکایی کیان تاجبخش و 100 نفر از فعالان سیاسیِ حرکت دمکراتیکِ کنونی در ایران سزاوار توجه بی درنگ همه ماست.
من از تمام کسانی که در جوامع دمکراتیک زندگی میکنند درخواست میکنم که برعلیه سیستم کنونیِ رژیم ایران که با سرکوب سیاسی و نقض حقوق بشر فعالین را تهدید به سکوت میکند ندای اعتزاض بلند کنند.
بدون آزادی بیان و حق اعتراض دمکراسی واقعی امکان پذیر نیست.

ستینگ

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By admin,

WASHINGTON (AP) Sting is calling for the release of political prisoners in Iran and lashing out against the country’s human rights violations. In a statement, the British rock star specifically called on Iran to release prominent Iranian-American academic Kian Tajbakhsh.

[Full Article]

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By admin,

This Economist article entitled It’s far from over mentions Kian among other “prominent Iranians” to have been arrested.

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Ahmadinejad, Iran Arrests, iran crackdown, Iranian elections, Kian Tajbakhsh, show trials, televised show trials, The Economist

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By admin, August 5, 2009 12:22 pm

Payvand Iran News has published this article mentioning Kian in Iran’s show trials:

“The indictment devoted an entire paragraph to Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American scholar who had previously been forced to give a televised confession while he was detained from May to September 2007. He was released on bail in September 2007, and was rearrested on July 9, 2009.

“It is clear that Iran’s rulers are using this farce of a trial not just to punish those in custody, but also to intimidate anyone who speaks out against injustice,” [Joe] Stork [of Human Rights Watch] said. “There is nothing quite like a show trial and televised confessions to demonstrate the authoritarian tendencies of those running the government.”

[Full article Iran: Show Trial Exposes Arbitrary Detention]

Technorati Tags:
Iran Arrests, iran crackdown, Iranian Election, Kian Tajbakhsh, televised show trials, Payvand, Human Rights Watch, Joe Stork

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By admin,

US State Department Deputy Spokesman Robert Wood told reporters the following at the August 4 press briefing:

I’d like to give you an update on this detained Iranian American scholar, Kian Tajbakhsh. We are deeply concerned of reports that Iranian American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh was recently charged by an Iranian court without the benefit of a lawyer. Given that the charges facing Mr. Tajbakhsh are without foundation, we call on Iran’s leadership to release Mr. Tajbakhsh without delay. He has played absolutely no role in the election and poses no threat to the Iranian Government or its national security. As an independent academic, Mr. Tajbakhsh has always sought out political neutrality.

The right to due process in Iran, which includes the right to legal representation, is not only addressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Iran is a signatory, it is also ratified in its own constitution. So the world is watching what is happening in Iran and will bear witness.

[Full briefing]

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Kian Tajbakhsh, Iran Arrests, iran crackdown, Iranian Election, show trials, televised show trials, US, US State Department

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By admin,

Kian’s friends Chandana Mathur and Dermot Dix have published an editorial about Kian in the Irish Times: Paying a high price for returning to live in Iran

Here is an excerpt from the article:

It is true that Kian has many friends and associates around the world, including in Ireland. But they are scholars and educators like ourselves, not military strategists seeking to topple distant governments. Kian is being forced to pay a heavy price for a lifetime of simultaneous translation, for the years spent teaching polarised peoples to understand and respect each other.

We would like to see Iran as Kian has taught us to see her, as a nation that values her intellectuals and protects the rights of her people. We hope that the coming days will prove him right.

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Iran Arrests, iran crackdown, Iranian Election, Kian Tajbakhsh, show trials, televised show trials, Irish Times

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By admin, August 4, 2009 2:09 pm

خانواده کیان تاجبخش به شدت اتهامات محاکمه نمایشی را رد میکند

دکنر کیان تاجبخش یکی از متهمان محاکمه نمایشی است که هم اکنون در ایران در جریان است. دکتر تاجبخش در ساعت 9 شب 18 تیر – 9 جولای – در مقابل همسر و دختر خرد سالش دستگیر شد و تا کنون در محل نا معلومی و بدون دسترسی به وکیل مدافع, خانواده و دوستان زندانی است.

دستکیری دکتر تاجبخش اولین بار توسط تلویزیون رسمی و انگلیسی زبان جمهوری اسلامی – پرس تی وی – در روز 22 تیر – 13 جولای – 4 روز بعد از بازداشتش اعلام شد. در این خبر اتهام وی همکاری با حسین رسام رئیس بخش امنیت سیاسی سفارت انگلیس در تهران اعلام شد. حسین رسام اکنون با دادن وثیقه مالی آزاد شده.

خانواده دکتر تاجبخش و دوستان و صدها اضا کننده درخواستنامه آزادی ایشان به شدت اتهاماتی که دولت احمدی نژاد بر وی وارد کرده را رد میکنند. آنها قبلا نیز در بیانیه ای هشدار داده بودند که دستگیری کیان در واقع تمهیدی برای بدست آوردن اقرار نامه دروغین از راه قهر آمیز و برای استفاده در دادگاه های نمایشی است. در آن بیانیه گفته شده بود که ” این گونه سخنان عموما در زیر شکنجه بدست آمده و تنها برای استفاده در محاکمه های نمایشی تلویزیونی است.”

خانواده دکتر تاجبخش از دیدن عکس های او که توسط آژانس رسمی خبری فارس در روز شنبه 10 مرداد چاپ شد بسیار متاثراند چون این عکس ها نمایانگر فشار جسمی و روانی شدیدی است که در این 23 روز بر کیان وارد شده.

دکتر کیان تاجبخش جامعه شناس طراح شهر محقق و نویسنده فارغ التحصیل دانشگاه کلمبیا در شهر نیویورک است. تا قبل از برگشت به ایران دکتر تاجبخش استاد جامعه شناسی در دانشکده تحقیقات اجتماعی در نیویورک New School بود . فعالیتهای تحقیقی وی همواره در پس زمینه بیطرفی سیاسی و در روند ایجاد پلی برای نزدیک کردن فرهنگها است.

برای اطلاعات بیشتر در سایت کیان به ما بپیوندید. آدرس سایت

http://www.freekian09.org/

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family and friends, Iran Arrests, iran crackdown, Iranian elections, Kian Tajbakhsh, show trials, televised show trials, Farsi

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By admin, July 30, 2009 10:04 am

The Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) on July 16th, sent a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei about their concern with Kian Tajbakhsh’s arrest and called for his immediate and unconditional release.

An excerpt of the full article is shown below:

…
Our special concern with Dr. Tajbakhsh’s arrest and safety also stems from the fact that he was previously detained in 2007, held for four months in solitary confinement on the basis of charges that lacked credibility, and forced to participate in a sham “confession” which was broadcast on Iranian state television, before being released. Despite that harrowing experience, Dr. Tajbakhsh subsequently opted to remain in Iran and to continue working as an expert in urban planning and social policy in that country, given his unflagging commitment to the welfare of his native country and its people. We fear Dr. Tajbakhsh may again be a victim of concocted allegations.

Your Excellency, we call for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Tajbakhsh, who was not involved in the recent protests, as well as those academics, scholars, and students arrested for no more than exercising their basic right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest (as guaranteed in the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran). We also urge that these individuals be treated with absolute dignity and given access to legal representatives of their choosing while they remain in detention.
…

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Ayatollah Khamenei, detention, elections, Iran Arrests, iran crackdown, Iranian elections, Kian Tajbakhsh, Committee on Academic Freedom, CAF, Middle East Studies Association of North America, MESA

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By admin, July 28, 2009 7:16 pm

Officials at the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York have refused to receive a petition including some 800 signatures by individuals calling for the unconditional release of Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh from detention in Iran. Those signing the petition, organized by the New School for Social Research in New York, “strongly deplore and condemn [the] detention and persecution of Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh…call for his immediate and unconditional release, and urge the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respect, guarantee, and implement the provisions and principles of human rights as specified in international conventions and treaties to which Iran has long been a signatory.”

New School Professor Arien Mack confirmed that an attempt was made to deliver two envelopes containing the petition, addressed to Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamene’i care of the Ambassador, to the Iranian mission to the UN on Wednesday, July 22, but the envelopes were refused. The New School left a message with the Mission’s legal department inquiring about the refusal, but has yet to receive a response.

Other prominent groups including the 3,300 members of PEN American Center, the International Cooperation Agency of Dutch Municipalities, Columbia University, and the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives in Pakistan have called for Kian’s release. PEN, an international organization of writers dedicated to protecting freedom of expression, stated in their appeal that they are “deeply concerned that Kian Tajbakhsh has been swept up in a crackdown on peaceful scholars and journalists following the disputed presidential elections in violation of their right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory.”

Iranian agents arrested Kian Tajbakhsh, an American citizen, and took him away from his wife and small daughter at their home in Tehran at 9:00pm on July 9, 2009. We still have no information about where Kian was taken. We are concerned that he is being held in an attempt by the Iranian authorities to obtain forced statements from him to use in a televised show trial to falsely accuse ‘foreign powers’ of interference in Iran’s postelection crisis. Such statements are repeatedly extracted under conditions of torture for the sole purpose of staging televised show trials in an attempt to deceive the Iranian public.

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Kian Tajbakhsh,detention, elections, family and friends, Iran Arrests, Iranian Election, Iranian elections, Kian Tajbakhsh, PEN, televised show trials, New School for Social Research, Mohammad Khazaee, Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, Iranian Mission, UN, petitions, International Cooperation Agency of Dutch Municipalities, Columbia University, Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives, iran crackdown, freedom of expression, Article 19, show trials, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

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By admin,

This Associated Press article reports on the release of 140 prisoners and fate of the remaining prisoners including Kian:

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly called for detainees’ release, saying the U.S. was “deeply concerned about all these arbitrary arrests, detentions and harassments that have taken place in Iran, as well as the persistent lack of due process.” He also expressed concern over three detained foreign citizens — Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh, Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari, who holds Iranian and Canadian citizenship, and a French scholar, Clotilde Reiss.

The head of Iran’s judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, promised on Monday that the public prosecutor would review the situation of all the postelection detainees within a week and decide whether to release or bring them to trial, the state news agency IRNA reported. State television said Tuesday that Ahmadinejad urged Shahroudi to accelerate making decision on the fate of detainees.

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arbitrary+arrests, Clotilde Reiss, detention, Iran Arrests, iran crackdown, Iranian elections, Kian Tajbakhsh, Maziar Bahari, US, State Department,Shahroudi

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By admin,

US State Department press briefing, July 28th

QUESTION: Just a question on Iran. I’m sure you’ve seen the reports that Supreme Leader Khamenei has ordered a detention center closed. Is this a good thing?

MR. KELLY: I’ve only seen reports of it, so it’s hard for me to – or hard for us at the State Department to comment on something that we’ve only seen reports of. I mean, what I will say is, of course, that we’re deeply concerned about all these arbitrary arrests, detentions, and harassments that are – that have taken place in Iran, as well as the persistent lack of due process.

All along, we’ve called upon Iran’s leadership to release all of those who have been detained unjustly, and so allow them to be reunited with their families. In addition, we’re very concerned about some detentions of foreign citizens, including an American scholar that we’ve talked about here before, Kian Tajbakhsh, Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari, and there’s a French scholar, Clotilde Reiss.

They have been detained, we think, without any grounds. And we find this unacceptable and we’re urging Iran to resolve all outstanding foreign national cases…

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Ayatollah Khamenei, detention, Iran Arrests, iran crackdown, Iranian elections, Kian Tajbakhsh, Maziar Bahari, Clotilde Reiss, arbitrary+arrests

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By admin,

Fears are mounting over the safety of hundreds of political inmates in Iran’s most notorious prison following the deaths of two prisoners detained in the recent post-election unrest…

Campaigners are also concerned for the safety of Kian Tajbakhsh, an American-Iranian scholar said to be under pressure to confess involvement in an alleged western plot to orchestrate the protests following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election.

[Original Article]

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Iran Arrests, Iranian Election, Iranian elections, Kian Tajbakhsh, political inmates, prison death, detention, protests

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By admin, July 24, 2009 7:34 am

The PEN Association called for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh. The text of the appeal is shown below:

Your Excellencies,

On behalf of the 3,300 members of PEN American Center, an international organization of writers dedicated to protecting freedom of expression wherever it is threatened, we are writing to express our deep concern regarding the arrest of Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh.

According to our information, Kian Tajbakhsh, a prominent Iranian-American social scientist and urban planner who has published two books and numerous articles in his field, was taken from his home by the state security forces on the night of July 9, 2009. Police reportedly searched his home and confiscated his computer. To date, his family has no information on his whereabouts or the reasons for his detention. He was not a participant in the recent protests following the disputed June 12, 2009 presidential elections.

This is not the first time Kian Tajbakhsh has been targeted by authorities. He was detained without charge in May 2007 and held in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison until September of the same year. That detention sparked international protests as well.

PEN American Center is deeply concerned that Kian Tajbakhsh has been swept up in a crackdown on peaceful scholars and journalists following the disputed presidential elections in violation of their right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory. We therefore call for his immediate and unconditional release, as well as the release of all other writers, scholars, journalists and students held in violation of their right to freedom of expression.

Thank you for your attention to this serious matter.

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Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh, Iran Arrests, Iranian Election, Kian Tajbakhsh, PEN

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By admin, July 20, 2009 7:48 pm

Shown below is the statement released by VNG International (The International Cooperation Agency of The Association of Netherlands Municipalities) strongly condemning Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh’s unjustified detention and calling for his immediate release:

Release Kian Tajbakhsh: The International Cooperation Agency of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities Calls for Kian’s Release

VNG International—the International Cooperation Agency of The Association of Netherlands Municipalities—expresses its deep concern over the arrest of our associated expert and colleague, the urban development specialist and social scientist, Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh, who was arrested by the Iranian authorities on July 9, 2009. VNG International strongly condemns his unjustified detention and calls for his immediate release.
Kian Tajbakhsh is a leading local government expert with an excellent international reputation who has worked regularly together with VNG International since 2004. Within the VNG International “LOGO SOUTH program on Developing the Capacity of the Local Government Sector”, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, he had planned to undertake a mission to Nepal last weekend. According to his contract with VNG International, he would assist the Municipal Association of Nepal (MuAN) and provide them with a comparative assessment of the local government situation in federal countries, a comparative analytical perspective on the structures, functions and finances among the various tiers of government as practiced in relevant country legislation and a review of the study by Nepalese experts on “Federalism and Local Government Restructuring”. The detention of Kian Tajbakhsh is a harmful disruption of the process of cooperation with MuAN in Nepal.

VNG International cannot understand why a skilled and honest expert and scientist like Kian Tajbakhsh is treated with such disrespect by the government of Iran. VNG International calls on the leadership of Iran to release Kian Tajbakhsh and enable him to resume his important work for the development of stronger local government—the tier of government that is crucial for service delivery to the citizens—in our world and global community.

Peter Knip
Director of VNG International