Iranian High Court denies Zaynab Bayazidi's appeal

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The Iran Human Rights Voice, a web-based media outlet that monitors human rights violations in Iran, released the following report:

An appeal request made by the lawyer representing Zaynab Bayazidi was turned down by officials in high court of justice.

The lawyer, Sayed Mehdi Hojati, confirmed the news and said: “Unfortunately, Branch One of the high court denied our request for an appeal”. Mr. Hojati also said that the court’s decision was submitted in his presence yesterday morning. Mr. Hojati also added: “Our request was based on section 6 in article 272, indicating that the cited offense did not warrant such magnitude in the level of punishment sentencing; but the appeals court turned down our appeal without giving it a proper review, which it deserved, and the court responded by declaring the aforementioned article irrelevant and inapplicable to this case.

Readers are reminded that Ms. Bayazidi is an activist in 1,000,000 Signature Petition Campaign to force changes in discriminatory laws. She is also a member of Kurdistan’s Human Rights Defense organization. On July 9, 2008, she appeared before the Ministry of Intelligence in the city of Mahbad, after which she was detained and sent to jail. In an unusually rapid progression, Ms. Bayazidi’s trial was held only one month after her detention without the presence of her defense lawyer. Ms. Bayazidi received a four-year jail sentence to be served in exile in the city of Zanjan’s central prison. The sentencing was subsequently approved by Western Azerbaijan’s appeals court. Ms. Bayazidi is not allowed to take relief time and she is currently spending her sentencing in Zanjan’s central prison.