Iran: Free prisoner of conscience to visit ailing son

The Iranian authorities should immediately free jailed journalist and human rights defender Mohammad Sadigh Kabudvand and allow him to visit his gravely ill 22-year-old son, said Amnesty International today.

Kabudvand’s wife Parinaz Baghban Hassani has requested that her husband be granted temporary leave, a routine practice in Iran, to see their son Pejman, whose health has worsened over the past several months.

Amnesty International believes Kabudvand, who is being held in Section 209 of Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, to be a prisoner of conscience held solely for his peaceful human rights activism.

“We believe that Mohammad Sadigh Kabudvand is being held solely for his human rights work and the peaceful expression of his views,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International.

“As such, he should never have been detained or imprisoned. Not only is he unfairly held, but he is also denied as a father the right to be with his son who is gravely ill. This is unjust and cruel. He should be allowed to spend this difficult time with his family in dignity.”

Mohammad Sadigh Kabudvand, who founded the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan, was arrested on 1 July 2007 and is serving a 10-and-a-half year prison sentence arising from two separate cases brought against him in 2005 and 2008.