MR. KELLY: …we, of course, are watching very closely what’s happening in Iran. We have said consistently that the regime in Iran has to respect the will of the Iranian people and respect their fundamental human rights. I think you know that one of the detainees on trial right now in the revolutionary court is an American citizen, Kian Tajbakhsh. He has not been given a lawyer. We believe the charges that he’s facing are without foundation. And we, of course, have consistently called for his release.
Mr. Tajbakhsh poses absolutely no threat to the Iranian Government or to its national security. He played absolutely no role in the election, and he’s a scholar. As I said yesterday, he has really devoted his life to promoting understanding between the Iranian people and the American people. And he’s scrupulously stayed politically neutral.
And I’ll just close by saying that the world is watching what’s going on in Iran right now, and we will bear witness to what’s going on.
[Full transcript]
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Iran Arrests, iran crackdown, Iranian elections, Kian Tajbakhsh, US State Department
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]
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]
BBC News has posted a video report on the 4th Revolutionary Court show trial featuring Kian.
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]
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]
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
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
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
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]
Technorati Tags:
Iran Arrests, Iranian Election, Iranian elections, Kian Tajbakhsh, political inmates, prison death, detention, protests
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Sting makes appeal for Kian Tajbakhsh and Iranian detainees.