IRAN: Reporters invited to tour Evin prison where Iranian-American academic is held
- 00:00:48
- ITN Source
IRAN: Reporters invited to tour Evin prison where Iranian-American academic is held
Iranian Judiciary officials invited domestic and foreign reporters on Tuesday (September 11) to visit some parts of Evin, House of Detention, in Tehran. An Iranian-American academic Kian Tajbakhsh,has been held in the facility on charges of espionage since May. He told reporters during the tour of Evin, that he had been held in solitary confinement. "I have been in solitary confinement for about 120 days. I was in solitary confinement from the beginning. I am cooperating with (my) interrogators and (Iran's) judiciary and I hope my case would reach some results soon. I will talk my issues in a press conference with presence of media," said Tajbakhsh. In a news conference which was held after the visit, Iranian judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi said he hoped Kian Tajbakhsh would soon be released. "I hope in the next one or two days news about his (Kian Tajbakhsh's) new condition would be announced," Jamshidi said. Iran's state television aired a programme in July called "In the Name of Democracy", which Iran's Foreign Ministry said had revealed a U.S.-backed plot to overthrow Iran's clerical establishment. The United States denounced the programme as "illegitimate and coerced", urging Tehran to release the detainees. Another U.S.-Iranian Ali Shakeri, a founding board member of the Centre for Citizen Peace-building at the University of California, is also being held at Evin Prison while a fourth was previously released on bail and her passport returned.
ITN Source | September 12, 2007
