Emadeddin Baghi, an Iranian scholar and journalist, was arrested at his home on December 28th 2009. Since his arrest, Baghi has reportedly been held in solitary confinement in Evin Prison, without access to his lawyers or to medical care and has not been permitted regular visits with his family. Most alarmingly, Baghi was hospitalized on March 20th after losing consciousness as a result of a respiratory condition worsened by his detention. Baghi has suffered from respiratory and heart conditions in the past, including three seizures and a heart attack prior to this imprisonment.
CCS asked the Iranian authorities to provide Baghi immediate and regular access to necessary medical treatment, as well as access to counsel and family, in accordance with the international standards of due process, fair trial and detention, as guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory. We called on them to explain publicly the reasons for his detention or, absent this, to arrange for his earliest release.