Iranian-American's Latest Letter from Prison

Amir Hekmati, an Iranian American and ex-US marine who has spent more three and a half years in Tehran’s Evin Prison, has appealed to Iran’s authorities, talking about his arrest, his time in solitary confinement and giving an account of the conditions under which he was tricked and forced to confess. 

Hekmati was arrested in August 2011 while visiting relatives in Iran. In the past, he has written to Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, the head of Iran’s judiciary, Sadegh Ardeshir Amoli Larijani, and Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence about his case, urging them to consider his case with “understanding and compassion.”

This is the full translation of Hekmati's letter, addressed to the the head of the Supreme Court, Hojatoleslam Hossein Karimi. The letter was originally written in Persian.

Hojatoleslam Hossein Karimi

Head of Supreme Court of Iran 

 

Greetings

This is an appeal by me, Amir Mirza Hekmati, to tell you about particulars that are objectionable from the viewpoint of sharia law. They are contrary to the clear provisions of the constitution. First, I will provide you with a brief account and then list the objections.

I was arrested on August 28, 2011 by plainclothes agents. The Iranian media, quoting the Intelligence Ministry, reported the date as November. I was transferred to a 1x1 meter cell and was put under the most intense pressure. In the first four months of solitary confinement I had no contacts with the outside world and was interrogated under the most inhumane conditions and threatened repeatedly. But I am not going to talk about that.

I was 28 years old. Under those pressures and threats, they told me that if I agreed to an interview and said certain things, I would be released. In that situation, when I was between hope and fear, I was filmed in Evin’s Ward 209. But since my psychological state was clear to see, they changed their decision and took me to Esteghlal Hotel in civilian clothes and with better treatment. There they treated me with respect and offered me fruit, food, tea and cigarettes. With a kind tone they asked me to shave my face with a razor and told me, “after you are free, but since we also do training work for the Intelligence Ministry, we will film you in order to train personnel.” But because what they wanted me to say was completely fabricated and untrue, I objected. At first they swore on the Koran that it was for good use, and if I did not agree they would send me back to solitary and I would not be freed.

After the bitter pressures of solitary confinement and continuous interrogations day and night, I agreed, hoping that perhaps I would be able to contact my family, who had not heard any news from me for four months.

After the recording, the interrogator suddenly left the hotel without telling me anything. When I asked the guards about it, they said he had to leave because something urgent came up. I asked them again about when they were going to release me now that the job was done. They said for the moment I would be returned to detention at Ward 209 and they would give me a better cell.

They took me to a small cell which they called a “suite,” and there for the first time in all that time I saw another person, a drug smuggler. There was an old and small TV set. The first thing I saw on it was the capture of a RJ-170 drone by the Revolutionary Guards. After that, to say something to honor the Intelligence Ministry, they said that they had captured an American spy who, like the RJ-170 drone, had entered from Afghanistan.

I could not believe it. It dawned on me that I had become entangled in a very ugly and strange security scenario. I had arrived in Iran on an Emirates flight and with an Iranian passport at Tehran’s International Imam Khomeini airport. I was a guest at my grandmother’s and friends’ for three weeks.

Now you have broadcast that video on TV with those edits, in violation of Article 188 of the Penal Code, which specifies that the accused cannot become a subject for the media before the final verdict. Now I understand that this fabricated video and this baseless propaganda was meant to prepare public opinion and the court, because my verdict was issued with that film. Before what went on at Esteghlal Hotel, when I first met Mr. Beigi, the examining magistrate for the case, he told me to write whatever the interrogator wanted, that the case was in a shape which would lead to my acquittal and he would help me.

It was only after this video was broadcast that I understood in what a swamp I have been stuck in as a result of a political game. I wrote a letter about it to the court that I was told was processing my case, i.e., the Revolutionary Court of Judge Salavati. Citing the promises of release and the end to my detention, I stated that I only did it for the purpose of the training of the Intelligence Ministry personnel. How could one expect a fair court with all this false propaganda put before it? I also wrote that the examining magistrate had told me that I would be freed due to lack of evidence. He had also told members of my family who had visited him that I would be freed.

A while after sending the letter I was taken to the court and Judge Salavati announced that none of the lawyers selected by me were qualified. There was only one public defender by the name of Mr. Hossein Yazdi Samadi whom Judge Salavati would accept. But the same day, without the presence of the lawyer, I was read my charge, which was “attempt to infiltrate the Intelligence Ministry”.

On the day of the trial I was able to talk for only 30 seconds with the lawyer, Mr. Samadi, in the presence of the members of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court. He cited articles 41 and 42 of the old Islamic Penal Code, which specify that committing actions that are only preliminary to the crime but are not part of the crime itself are not crimes and are not punishable. Even if these actions can be construed as an early step in committing the crime but there is no material evidence, then the minimum sentence of one year is applicable.

It was not even agreeable to rely on the argument that “intent is not the crime” because I had only come to visit my family and my country. But to my disbelief, a week after a 20-minute trial, Judge Salavati of Branch 15 condemned me to death for “war against God and the state”.

The interesting part in my case was the Intelligence Ministry claimed that it had been pursuing me for years and they even called the program “Under Control”. But there was not a shred of evidence against me in my case except the confessions, which were extracted with deceit, torture and threats while I was in solitary and blindfolded. At Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court I asked Judge Moghisei, “why do you only accept what I said under those conditions which lead to a guilty verdict? Why don’t you accept what I am saying in your presence? Doesn’t the constitution clearly state that extracting confessions with a blindfold, from behind and in solitary confinement is illegal?”

Honorable President of the Supreme Court:

I have several questions now that the verdict has been issued. I ask the Intelligence Ministry and Judge Salavati to present only one piece of evidence that I have worked with the CIA. Shouldn’t Judge Salavati have a strong piece of evidence when he denies me the right to live? Should my pictures on my personal mobile phone, mementos from the time when I was a soldier, deny me the right to live?

The Iranian Supreme Leader, on page 300 of his Book of Fatwas [religious and legal opinions], clearly states that serving in the military forces of other countries is not against the law or sharia.

Should this be my situation when my family in America and I pride ourselves in being Iranians and have always prayed for its success? This situation is a result of problems between the two countries and has nothing to do with me personally. Should my sick father, my heartbroken mother and my family suffer the psychological torture of my death penalty for “fighting God”?

On what basis has Judge Salavati has called me “an enemy of God” in his verdict? Did I have a weapon to fight God? Why did he consider me to be “corrupt on earth” and decide that I must be executed? Why did the assistant prosecutor who asked for this verdict have nothing to tell me except that “your confessions have been aired”? Even if, assuming the impossible, a person has the intent of committing a crime, the law says that it is not punishable. Should his life be taken away from him?

Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, the Imam of House of Wisdom in Michigan, a trusted Shia figure, has written a number of letters to the president and the Iranian consular offices saying that “with my knowledge of this Muslim youth and his family, I cannot believe the charge against him. His family loves Iran.”

I do not understand why I should lose 10 years of my life in captivity, which started when I was 28. And I do not understand how valid a sentence of death can be when, after one month, it is changed to 10 years in prison?

Why was article 188 not observed in my case, an Iranian, so that the court would not be unduly influenced? Why was no attention whatsoever paid to my defense? Even if, as you say, I had the intent no crime was committed. Then why was I condemned?

 

Honorable Judge,

When I arrived in Iran, I did not speak Persian and knew only a few words. I went directly to my grandmother’s home and had a family get-together because it was my first visit to Iran and I was enthusiastic about my motherland. Based on what evidence does the Intelligence Ministry present me as an elite CIA agent? I could not speak Persian and they could not find any activity by me except going to family parties.

Why even, after three years and six months, I have not been permitted to meet with my lawyer? Why can I not see my own case? What injustice or sin have I committed against the Iranian government to deserve this heavy punishment?

 

Honorable Mr. Karimi,

I have yet to receive an answer to any of these questions. It is my life, my youth and the dreams of family that is being wasted away due to political considerations. In spite of all this, I bowed my head and, by accepting God’s wisdom, asked the authorities, including the Exalted Supreme Leader, for Islamic clemency and mercy. But I have not heard any news and have not received any messages.

 

Honorable Head of the Supreme Court,

According to Article 272 of the penal code and paragraphs 4 and 6 of the article, documents have been presented in the case for your attention, including my letter of resignation from the military and the acceptance letter from the economy faculty of Michigan University where I was to due to attend after my trip to Iran. I also request your Honor to reopen the case based on Article 123 of the Islamic Penal Code regarding the intent to commit a crime, which the presiding judge mistakenly did not take into account.

With Appreciation and Respect,

Amir Mirza Hekmati