His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street
Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Your Excellency,
According to the Committee for the Defence of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners, more than 500 political activists have been detained or have been the victims of enforced disappearance in recent weeks. I am writing to you with regards to the apparent enforced disappearance of Sa’id Metinpour. Mr. Metinpour is an advocate of linguistic and cultural rights for Iranians of Azerbaijani ethnicity. A Haqqimiz report stated that he was detained in Zenjan around midnight, May 25. Advar News indicated he, and Atiye Taheri, were stopped while returning home by plain-clothes Ministry of Intelligence officials who had arrest warrants for them.
Please discover and reveal the whereabouts of Mr. Metinpour immediately. If he is in custody, please grant him immediate and regular access to family members, to a lawyer of his choice, and to any medical treatment he may require. Please assure me that he is being treated humanely and is not being tortured or ill-treated.
A statement issued by the National Movement of Azerbaijan on June 2 claims that local newspapers are being pressured not to publicize information about the alleged arrest.
If Mr. Metinpour is being detained solely as a result of the expression of his conscientiously held beliefs, he is a prisoner of conscience, who should be released immediately and unconditionally.
Sincerely and Respectfully Yours,
Timothy Schwinghamer
654 Upper Leitches Creek Road
Upper Leitches Creek NS B2A 4B5
Cc:
Mr Seyed Mahdi Mohebi, Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy for the Islamic Republic of Iran, 245 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa ON K2P 2K2
His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel, Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
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