Nov. 6
EGYPT:
Exiled Morsi aide takes on Egypt diplomat over mass death sentences
An Egyptian political activist sentenced to death clashed with a member of
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's delegation to London on Thursday during a
televised talk show.
Sondos Asem, former international media co-ordinator for ousted former
president Mohammed Morsi, is the most high-profile woman to be handed down the
death penalty in Egypt since 2013.
An Egyptian court in May sentenced her to death in absentia for allegedly
committing espionage by conspiring with Palestinian movement Hamas as well as
the UK, the US, Iran and Hezbollah.
During a conversation on the BBC's Newsnight programme, Asem discussed the
current situation in Egypt, from where she is exiled, with Mohamed el-Orabi, a
Mubarak-era diplomat who accompanied President Sisi on his controversial trip
to the UK this week.
"I've never found myself in a situation before where one guest has been
sentenced to death under a regime of which another studio guest is a member,"
the show's host, James O'Brien, said.
Orabi told O'Brien that "everyone" the Egyptian delegation had met in the House
of Commons and the House of Lords had praised the country's progress towards
stability.
Asked if he was comfortable with the death sentence handed down against Asem,
Orabi replied "of course not. She is Egyptian."
"If she comes back she will face a fair trial ... [But] I do not know her
case."
Writing in a column for Middle East Eye this week, Asem highlighted findings by
monitors like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that the mass trial
in which she was sentenced was "deeply flawed" and politically motivated.
"In Egypt, many of my friends and former co-workers are facing the threat of
being executed for crimes they have not committed," she wrote.
"Most of them are held in solitary confinement, and some have already worn the
red uniform designated for those on death row and are subjected to forms of
psychological and physical torture that no human should endure."
During Thursday night's talk show, Asem questioned Orabi about the "over 1,000
people who have also been handed down the death penalty since the coup in a
matter of hours without a single piece of evidence".
"We will not discuss that now...We will not indulge in this," Orabi replied.
(source: middleeasteye.net)
**************
MPs urge Cameron to raise human rights and death penalty with Sisi
MPs today urged David Cameron to raise human rights and Egypt's use of the
death penalty with President Sisi, including the case of Ibrahim Halawa, an
Irish teenager facing a potential death sentence in a mass trial.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 in an interview broadcast this morning, Ibrahim's
sister Somaia said that her mother had had a distressing visit to Ibrahim on
Tuesday at Wadi Natrun prison, where he has said he suffers regular beatings.
Somaia said: "She's a mother - she can't hold her tears when she sees her son
in this situation. He kept telling her, please Mama don't cry, because if you
do I will cry too."
Ibrahim, who was 17 when he was arrested during the Egyptian military's breakup
of protests, is facing a potential death sentence in a mass trial of 494 people
that has been frequently postponed over the past 2 years. During that time, he
has faced torture in prison. His family have written to David Cameron, calling
on him to raise Ibrahim's case during the Egyptian President's visit today.
Somaia also spoke of the poor trial conditions, saying that Ibrahim had been
beaten and tortured as punishment for demanding a fair trial during at least 1
hearing. He had been beaten with metal chains by prison authorities, she said,
for no reason other than that he is 'foreign'. "Let's not forget that he is
facing the death penalty [...] just for peacefully protesting", she added. The
Halawas are trying to "keep strong", she said, adding that they were "very
hopeful" that Mr Cameron would intervene with President Sisi.
The interview came as MPs raised concerns in Parliament about abuses in Egypt,
including Ibrahim's case. This morning, an urgent question tabled by Tom Brake
MP asked if the Prime Minister would raise the case. In response, Foreign
Office minister Tobias Ellwood confirmed that British officials had raised it
with Egypt "this summer". However, he stopped short of confirming that Mr
Cameron would press the case during his meeting with Mr Sisi, saying only that
"many matters" relating to human rights would be discussed. Other MPs,
including Foreign Affairs Committee chair Crispin Blunt MP, raised concerns
about the timing of Mr Sisi's visit, amid widespread reports of torture and
political repression in Egypt.
Human rights organization Reprieve, which is assisting Ibrahim, has urged the
Prime Minister to raise Ibrahim's case during Sisi's visit.
Commenting, Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said:
"Ibrahim and his family have been through a heartbreaking ordeal since he was
swept up in Sisi's brutal crackdown on dissent. Despite having been just a
child when he was arrested for the 'crime' of attending a protest, Ibrahim is
facing a death sentence in a manifestly unfair mass trial of 494 people.
Cameron must make clear to Sisi that the UK rejects these terrible abuses - the
Prime Minister must demand Ibrahim's release, and urge Sisi to end his wave of
repression."
(source: reprieve.org.uk)
IRAN:
IMMINENT EXECUTION OF 25-YEAR-OLD IRANIAN MAN
A 25-year-old Iranian man, Alireza Shahi, is at imminent risk of execution
after he was convicted
and sentenced to death for the charge of murder. Amnesty International has
concerns about the
fairness of the trial that led to Alireza Shahi’s conviction.
Click here to view the full Urgent Action in Word or PDF format, including case
information,
addresses and sample messages.
Alireza Shahi is scheduled to be executed on 11 November. He was transferred to
solitary confinement
in preparation for execution, in Raja’i Shahr Prison in Karaj, near Tehran, on
1 November. His
execution had initially been scheduled for 4 November, but was postponed on 2
November, when his
family were given seven days to obtain the pardon of the family of the deceased
man. He has since
been returned to the prison’s general ward.
Alireza Shahi was sentenced to death on 23 June 2012 under the Islamic
principle of qesas
(retribution-in-kind) for involvement in a fatal stabbing which took place
during a fight among
several young men in December 2008 when he was 18 years old. There are concerns
about his treatment
and the fairness of the proceedings that led to his conviction. Following his
arrest, Alireza Shahi
was held in detention for over two weeks without access to a lawyer or his
family and was allegedly
tortured or otherwise ill-treated. According to the court documents, it was
during the primary
investigation that Alireza Shahi admitted to stabbing the man, but he later
attributed the guilt to
another man involved in the fight, who was also accused of stabbing the victim.
He had only one
hearing, before Branch 71 of the Criminal Court in Tehran. His death sentence
was upheld by the
Supreme Court in May 2013.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Alireza Shahi was taken to a hospital after the fight, on 8 December 2008, with
a stab wound
received during the fight. He was arrested on the same day and taken to a
police station (agahi).
Click here to view the full Urgent Action in Word or PDF format.
Name: Alireza Shahi
Gender m/f: m
UA: 254/15 Index: MDE 13/2830/2015 Issue Date: 6 November 2015
Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact!
EITHER send a short email to u...@aiusa.org with “UA 254/15” in the subject
line, and include in the
body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent,
OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action.
Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office
if taking action after
the appeals date. If you receive a response from a government official, please
forward it to us at
u...@aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Please write immediately in Persian, English, Arabic, Spanish, French or your
own language:
* Calling on the Iranian authorities to halt Alireza Shahi’s execution
immediately and to commute
his death sentence;
* Calling on them to investigate the allegations that Alireza Shahi was
tortured or otherwise
ill-treated and reminding them that statements obtained through torture,
ill-treatment or
coercion must be excluded as evidence in criminal proceedings.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 18 DECEMBER 2015 TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid
Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: (via website) http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?
p=letter
Twitter: @khamenei_ir (English),
@Khamenei_ar (Arabic),
@Khamenei_es (Spanish).
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
President of the Islamic Republic Iran
Hassan Rouhani
The Presidency
Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Twitter: @HassanRouhani (English),
@Rouhani_ir (Persian)
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, Deadend of 1 Azizi
Above Pasteur Intersection
Vali Asr Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: i...@humanrights-iran.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Also send copies to:
Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please
send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 965 4990 I Fax: 202 965 1073 I Email: i...@daftar.org
Please share widely with your networks: http://bit.ly/1MCQmZ3
We encourage you to share Urgent Actions with your friends and colleagues! When
you share with your
networks, instead of forwarding the original email, please use the "Forward
this email to a friend"
link found at the very bottom of this email. Thank you for your activism!
UA Network Office AIUSA │600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003
T. 202.509.8193 │ F. 202.509.8193 │E. u...@aiusa.org │amnestyusa.org/urgent
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