By Joseph Picard: Subscribe to Joseph's RSS feed
September 7, 2010 5:14 PM EDT
Shiva Nazar-Ahari went on trial Saturday in Iran for the very serious charge of "warring against God." What happened at her trial, and what may happen to the 26-year-old human rights activist, remains unknown.
"Her trial, like other trials in Iran of political prisoners, was not open to the public," said Faraz Sanei, a researcher at Human Rights Watch who concentrates on Iran. "The only information I have is that she was indicted on two national security charges and the more serious charge of "moharebeh," which translates as 'warring against God' or 'enmity against God.'"
A conviction on moharebeh usually carries a death sentence, Sanei said.
Nazar-Ahari's attorney, Mohammed Sharif, was at the trial and reportedly said he was "not pessimistic about the fate of the case."
Sanei, who has spoken with Sharif in the past but not since the trial, said the lawyer's comments may indicate that the moharebeh charge has been dropped, or it may mean "that her lawyer was feeling optimistic for some other reason. We simply don't know," Sanei said.
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Nazar-Ahari is a founding member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, an Iranian organization now operating in exile. She specialized in women's issues, child labor and political prisoners.
The committee's website, which reported the "not pessimistic" quote from Sharif, added that the moharebeh charge resulted from her alleged association with the People's Mujahadeen of Iran, which is an outlawed political group considered a terrorist organization by Iran.
The CHRR site said Nazar-Ahari denied all the charges against her and "expressed disgust" with the Mujahadeen, saying she has no connection with the group.
"The charge of 'warring against God' is usually reserved for people who take up arms against the Iranian government," Sanei explained. "But the government can extend the charge to people it alleges were in communication with a group that has taken up arms against Iran."
According to Sanei, Human Rights Watch can find no evidence that Nazar-Ahari has ever had anything to do with the Mujahadeen.
"We consider Nazar-Ahari a political prisoner. She was imprisoned and is now threatened with death because of the work she and the Committee of Human Rights Reporters have done in exposing the human rights violations of the Iranian government, especially regarding political prisoners," Sanei said.
In June 2009, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election by defeating challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi, in a contest many both within and outside Iran considered rigged. Mousavi himself called the election a "charade."
National authorities held a recount - eventually declaring Ahmadinejad the winner - while demonstrations spread and police cracked down on protestors. Nazar-Ahari, a supporter of Mousavi, was among those arrested. She served three months in prison.
She was re-arrested in December while on her way to the religious city of Qom for the funeral of a top dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri.
Since that time she has been held in Teheran's infamous Evin prison. He attorney has seen her twice. Her parents a few more times.
"So few people have seen her for any length of time that we have very little idea of how she is doing," Sanei said.
Shahrzad Kariman, Nazar-Ahari's mother, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran on Saturday that she had seen her daughter briefly after the trial, although the mother herself was not allowed into the courtroom.
"I saw Shiva,' Kariman said. "We could see her outside the court for a few minutes, just enough to hug her, but we couldn't ask her how the court session went. We will wait to see about the ruling."
Kariman confirmed that her daughter was in handcuffs.
Voices from around the world are calling for Nazar-Ahari's release.
On the website, A Safe World for Women, Nazar-Ahari's longtime friend, Sepideh Pooraghaiee, excepts from a letter Nazar-Ahari wrote to a fellow prisoner:
"When your heart trembles for the rights of another human, that is when you begin to slip; that is when the interrogations begin. When your heart trembles for another prisoner, a woman, a child laborer, that is when you become the accused. When you find faith in people and believe in humanity and nothing else, that is when you commit your first crime."
"The case of Shiva Nazar-Ahari exemplifies the sorry state of human rights in Iran," said E. Robert Goodkind, chairman of the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights at the American Jewish Committee.
"UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon can help protect this remarkable advocate of justice, whose life is in danger," said Goodkind. "He should insist that Iran respect the concerns of UN human rights bodies by promptly releasing Nazar-Ahari from prison."
"Shiva Nazar-Ahari is a brave champion for human rights," said U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-CA. "The actions by Iranian authorities to arrest and try her under vague charges is in clear violation of international human rights standards. World leaders should send a clear message that she should be released from prison, immediately and unconditionally."
The verdict of the Iranian court is not due to be made public for about a month.
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