A Law Not Enforced is Good for Libraries, Detained Journalist’s Mother Tells Rooz!

Omid Memarian -

o.memarian@roozonline.com - 2007.06.07

Journalist Ali Farahbakhsh has been behind bars for more than 6 months, even though he suffers from stomach complications. Badri Farahbakhsh, the journalist’s mother, told Rooz in an interview, “I have no doubts that my son is innocent. So it is inhumane and unjust to keep him in prison. It is unclear why Ali has to stay behind bars while his case is being reviewed by the court of appeals. The judiciary must answer for this injustice.”
Farahbakhsh’s mother continued, “We ask all of the country’s judicial, security and governmental officials and whoever else that is in charge of handling cases to process my son’s case more quickly.”
Badri Farahbakhsh added, “Ali has had stomach complications for about a month now. He was visited [by doctors] a couple of times but then nothing happened. The last time I saw him he said that the problem had spread to his kidneys. They don’t do anything for him in prison. Right now they don’t give him any medicine. They have abandoned him… We asked the prosecutor’s office to allow him to seek treatment outside prison with his own money. They didn’t even allow for that. They say, ‘You leave and we will take care of him.’ The next time we go there we see that they haven’t done anything.”
When asked why Ali Farahbakhsh is not freed while his case is being reviewed by the court of appeals, Farahbakhsh’s mother said, “They said from the beginning that the court of appeals will not do that. They said his case must end before he is released. Most people are freed when their cases are being reviewed by the court of appeals, and the court takes its time. But they wrote on Ali’s case, ‘in prison, urgent attention.’ But the problem is that my son is currently in prison, and his life is being wasted because of the judiciary’s mismanagement. I don’t want to get into what is happening behind the scenes in this case. But what really is happening is injustice, and it is not hard to detect injustice. Who cares if Mr. Shahroudi [head of judiciary] talks about citizenship rights? A law that is not enforced is good only for libraries. I don’t know how these officials who always talk about the rights of people are able to sleep at night, when many people are unable to rest for a minute because of their pain and sadness.”
Badri Farahbakhsh says that Ali has completed interrogations and is being kept at the general ward: “Interrogations ended a long time ago, ever since the case went to court. But he is being kept in prison without guilt and reason, while his son and wife await him anxiously. We don’t know what to do; we really have lost hope. These issues have disrupted the life of our family. Ali’s lawyer goes to court repeatedly and he hopes that a resolution would come quickly. But, unfortunately, I don’t know why they don’t free my son.”