Iranian Azerbaijani journalist and human rights activist Said Matinpour, who last year was sentenced to an 8-year prison term for “maintaining links to foreigners” and propaganda against the Islamic Republic”, was arrested and has been transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran. He is at risk of severely harsh torture.
According to family friends, Matinpour was summoned by Judge Salavati of Section 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran on July 11, 2009 and arrested upon his arrival. They also said that he had called his family at 6PM that evening and told them that was being held in Evin.
Said Matinpour was arrested prior on May 25, 2007 in Zenjan and released on bail of 500 million Toman (more than 550,000 dollars) after 278 days of detention in Evin Prison.
After his release, Matinpour stated that he was held incommunicado in the notorious section 209 of Evin Prison and subjected to ill-treatment and severe torture. His family reported that he was suffering from digestion problems, headaches and backaches and that he was seeking treatment.
On June 11, 2009, he was sentenced to a 7-year prison term on the charge of "maintaining links to foreigners" (espionage) and one additional year for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic" by Judge Salavati of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran. His 8-year prison sentence was approved by the Appeal Court of Tehran on December 2008.
Said Matinpour graduated from Tehran University with a degree in philosophy. He and is a member of the writing staff for the weekly journal Yarpaq and maintains a series of weblogs about human rights in Iran as well as linguistic and cultural rights for Iran’s Azerbaijani minority. He was first arrested in May 2007 as a result of promoting Azerbaijani cultural awareness as well as attending a January 2007 conference in Turkey aimed at promoting rights for Turkic populations of the world.
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