A journalist and press freedom advocate, Morteza Kazemian first angered authorities in 2001 because of his work with a coalition of political activists and writers. He was later one of many journalists arrested in the aftermath of the 2009 presidential election, labeled by the regime as a “sabotage ringleader”. When security agents summoned him for arrest for a third time, he fled the country with his wife and child.
Name: Morteza Kazemian
Career: Journalist, member of the central committee of the Society for the Defense of Press Freedom and a member of the Nationalist-Religious Coalition of Iran; worked for many publications and websites including Shargh, Sarmayeh, Etemad, Tous, Khordad, Aftab and Rooz Online.
Charges: Propaganda against the regime, conspiracy and activities against national security.
Morteza Kazemian was first arrested in winter 2001 with other members of the Nationalist-Religious Coalition of Iran, an umbrella group for smaller opposition parties, political activists and writers. He was detained for 210 days at a secret jail run by the intelligence bureau of the Revolutionary Guards. He was put in solitary confinement for 130 days and then released on bail.
In a closed trial in 2002, Judge Haddad of Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to four years in prison and stripped him of his social rights for five years.
Kazemian was arrested for a second time on December 29, 2009 in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election. After the street protests, the state-affiliated media labeled him “leader of sedition’s news division” and a “sabotage ringleader”.
He spent 63 days in solitary confinement at Cell Block 240 at Evin Prison before he was released on bail. Like many other journalists, he was tried at the Revolutionary Court without a jury present. Only one of his lawyers, Mohammad Beikzadeh, was present. His other attorney, Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer, was in prison at the time for propaganda against the regime. Judge Moghisei, notorious for harsh sentencing against activists and journalists, was the presiding judge.
The media later published Kazemian’s defense. “The agents who executed the arrest had a warrant which characterized the arrest as a ‘preventive measure’,” he told the court. “They searched my home and confiscated items such as my personal computer, CDs, and notes...It must be noted that throughout all my interrogations there was no mention of the initial charge. No judiciary official read me my charges whereas, according to Article 32 of the Islamic Republic Constitution, the accused must be notified of the charges immediately and in writing.”
Judge Moghisei sentenced him to one year in prison. The evidence against him consisted of articles, analyses and interviews with foreign media on the 2009 presidential election.
He was banned from journalism and fled Iran in December 2010 when he was summoned by security forces.
Morteza Kazemian now lives in Paris with his wife and child.
This is part of IranWire’s series Crime: Journalism, a portfolio on the legal and political persecution of Iranian journalists and bloggers, published in both Persian and English.
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