Professor Emadeddin Baghi, an Iranian scholar, has received a six-year prison sentence for “propaganda against the regime” and “gathering and colluding to disturb national security”. The court charges refer to an interview Baghi conducted with the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, broadcast on the Persian service of the BBC in December 2009, shortly after the death of Montazeri. Exercising Professor Baghi’s rights to peacefully express his views is protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to both of which Iran is a signatory.
Baghi has suffered from respiratory and heart conditions in the past, including three seizures and a heart attack in an imprisonment in August, in which he was held without charges for 180 days and released on bail.
CCS has protested on Professor Baghi’s behalf before and again requested that Iranian authorities reverse this severe sentence. In addition, the courts should re-examine the circumstances of Baghi’s arrest and detention, in the expectation that they will be forced to dismiss all charges against him. At the very least, we asked that they guarantee Professor Baghi’s physical well-being