PROPOS

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

The detention order for journalist, Fariba Pajooh, has been renewed. Earlier this week her prison visits were also canceled.

HRA - The Prisoners’ Rights Unit of HRA reports that, last Monday, prison officials, who were acting under orders, did not let Faiba’s family visit her in prison. The family could only briefly talk to her for minutes over the phone.

In addition, her lawyer, Mina Jaffari, has been notified by the investigator from the 2nd District of the Revolutionary Court that her client’s detention order has been renewed. The news has led to worries that Fariba Pajooh may be transferred back to solitary confinement.

Mina Jaffari, the defense lawyer, told a HRANA reporter that the Tehran prosecutor has ordered all her client’s visits to be canceled. The restriction is all encompassing; neither Jaffari herself nor Fariba’s family are allowed visits.

The lawyer added, “Fariba is still under pressure, and her emotional state is worrisome. Unfortunately, I have never been able to see her and could only get her news through her family.”

Mina Jaffari also talked about the latest development in the case of Isa Saharkhiz, her other client, and said, “Mr. Saharkhiz is still in jail and his detention order has also been renewed, but I have not been given any more information on the file.”

Fariba Pajooh was arrested by Intelligence Ministry agents on August 22nd, 2009, the first day of Ramadan, at her parents’ house. She spent the first month of her detention in solitary confinement. Fariba has been verbally abused by prison guards and is under intense psychological pressure to confess.  After one month of solitary confinement, she was moved to a cell that she shared with another detained journalist, Hengameh Shahidi.