Protesters "in Iran" face notorious prosecutor

He was implicated in killing of Montreal-based photographer Zahra Kazemi



Sonia Verma

From Thursday's Globe and Mail, Thursday, Jun. 25, 2009

Saeed Mortazavi, the Iranian prosecutor implicated in the torture and killing of Montreal-based photographer Zahra Kazemi, has been assigned to oversee the cases of jailed Iranian democracy protesters in Tehran.

Mr. Mortazavi's appointment has been widely condemned by human-rights groups around the world.

Criticism is especially acute in Canada from those close to Ms. Kazemi, who died in Iranian custody on July 11, 2003.

“I have no doubt that these protesters will be treated just as brutally as Ms. Kazemi, maybe worse,” said Shahram Azam, the former Tehran emergency-room doctor who examined Ms. Kazemi, and later testified to her torture when he claimed asylum in Canada in 2005.

“Ottawa should strongly object and demand his immediate arrest. With him in charge, we can be sure that torture and death will happen again,” said Dr. Azam, who currently lives in Toronto and works as a medical consultant.

Dr. Azam said Canada should be especially alarmed by Mr. Mortazavi's appointment in light of the recent arrest of Maziar Bahari, a Canadian journalist who reported for Newsweek, and is currently being detained without charge in Tehran.

“We're afraid it will happen again, the same as what happened to Ms. Kazemi,” Dr. Azam said.

Mr. Mortazavi first said Ms. Kazemi had died accidentally of a stroke while being interrogated, after being arrested while taking pictures outside Tehran's Evin prison.

A contradictory statement was issued two days later, claiming she had fallen and hit her head.

On July 16, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, the former vice-president of Iran, said Ms. Kazemi had died of a fractured skull after being beaten.

Mr. Mortazavi was later assigned to investigate the disputed circumstances of Ms. Kazemi's death, and consistently refuted any involvement.

However, in the wake of Dr. Azam's testimony, Ottawa has said Mr. Mortazavi played a central role, ordering Ms. Kazemi's arrest and supervising her torture.

Dr. Azam believes he was present when she was ultimately killed.

Even before his alleged role in Ms. Kazemi's case emerged, Mr. Mortazavi was notorious for his ruthless crackdowns on dissent.

In Iran, he is known as “the butcher of the press” for shutting down more than 100 newspapers and websites accused of being against the regime.

He also presided over the recent trial of Roxana Saberi, the American-Iranian journalist accused of spying and subsequently sentenced to eight years in jail. She was released last month after her sentence was reduced.