PETITION TO FREE KARAN VAFADARI AND AFARIN NAYSSARI
WHEREAS: Karan Vafadari and Afarin Nayssari have been set to go to trial by Islamic Revolutionary Court of Iran on Monday April 17th;
WHEREAS: Karan Vafadari and
Afarin Nayssari, husband and wife (legally married in a civil court in the U.S.),
independent art gallery owners, were arrested and have been held in Tehran’s Evin
prison without due process since July of 2016;
WHEREAS; They hold dual
nationals, which is not a crime;
WHEREAS; Days after the
arrest, the couple are taken to their home and a search is conducted. Karan is
taken outside and made to sit in a vehicle. Meanwhile, Afarin Nayssari is filmed and photographed by the security agents in
flagrant violation of a woman’s privacy in order to denigrate and produce propaganda;
WHEREAS: They are denied access to a lawyer during their imprisonment or access to the contents of the prosecution files and briefs of the baseless charges against them;
WHEREAS: They were ordered
by the presiding judge to dismiss their selected lawyer;
WHEREAS: They are facing
trumped up political charges of “spying and overthrowing the government”; Karan
and Afarin are not political; they
have never worked for any government or had held any governmental positions;
WHEREAS: The dangerous and
trumped up charges of "espionage" were gradually and arbitrarily motified
to "attempt to overthrow the regime" to "conferring to conspire
against national security" in order to prevent them from posting bail;
WHEREAS: Karan Vafadari is a Zoroastrian religious minority recognized by the Iranian constitution;
WHEREAS: Karan Vafadari is a Zoroastrian religious minority recognized by the Iranian constitution;
WHEREAS: During days of duress and interrogation and while being kept in blindfolds and forced to face a wall, investigation of their private home, investigation of their business, and invasion of their privacy have not resulted in any evidence of wrongdoing;
WHEREAS: Afarin Nayssari is
kept under harsh prison conditions and interrogation and pressured to spy on
behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Intelligence
Service on friends, business
clients and associates, and even her husband; her refusal worsens her condition
in prison;
WHEREAS: Outside of the false
espionage-related charges, the security forces’ evidence against them consists
of two bottles of liquor taken from the privacy of their home and a number of
art pieces deemed “questionable” by authorities. It is not clear whether these questionable
items belong to their collection of hundreds of art pieces or to the security
forces;
WHEREAS: Karan and Afarin
have committed their lives to the appreciation and advancement of Iranian
culture via the Aun Gallery and the Aun Foundation;
WHEREAS: Jazieh, the
practice of infringement on rights and property of Zoroastrians has been
rescinded in Iran since 1880s, during reign of the Qajars. The current practice by Sepah Passdaran and
Islamic courts on seizing the private property of this minority is against the
rights of citizens;
THEREFORE: We, the
undersigned, urge the Leader of Islamic Republic of Iran and the Judiciary to
drop all charges brought against Karan Vafadari and Afarin Nayssari and to release
them IMMEDIATELY and UNCONDITIONALLY.
In case of any trial, we
call upon the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran to ensure that the
trial is open to the public with the presence of independent press and representation
by national and independent international lawyers and a jury of their peers to
consist of women, artists, and Zoroastrians.
Please send your letters
to:
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Supreme Leader of the
Islamic Republic of Iran
email: contact@leader.ir or info_leader@leader.ir
email: contact@leader.ir or info_leader@leader.ir
c/o Mr. Gholamali
Khoshroo
Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017, USA
email: iran@un.int or iranun.ny@mfa.gov.ir
Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017, USA
email: iran@un.int or iranun.ny@mfa.gov.ir
AND to:
Ayatollah
Sadeqh Larijani, Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur Street, Vali Asr Avenue, South of
Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran 1316814737
Islamic Republic of Iran
Copies to:
President
Hassan Rouhani
email:media@rouhani.ir
Palestine
Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Iran
Tehran, Iran
AND to:
Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif
Minister
of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@mfa.gov.ir
Ministry of Foreign
Affairs
Bagh-e Melli
Tehran, Iran
