Source:
March 7, 2010
It would appear that the efforts of thousands of human rights activists, supporters of the Green Movement and the widespread coverage of the news of the of Mohammad Amin Valian are finally yielding results. The case of Mohammad Amin Valian has reportedly been restored to a transparent form. The Young student now enjoys a lawyer of his choosing, in addition to the possibility of a court of cassation, and unofficial promises of overturning his death sentence.

Mohammad Amin Valian’s trial had taken place in an uncivilised manner and his family and public defender had not even been officially informed about the court’s absurd ruling.

Following the confirmation of the twenty-year-old’s death sentence after appeal, his life was in imminent danger in the weeks leading up to the 16 March Iranian festival of Chaharshanbe Souri.

Following the rigged 12 June presidential election, another post-election defendant Arash Rahmanipour had suddenly been executed. Similar to that Valian, Rahmanipour had also been accused of Moharebeh (warring against God) which is punishable by death.

Nevertheless with the massive campaign launched for saving the life of this young student whose only crime was to protest against an illegitimate government, the unjust process of putting an end to the life of Valian is showing signs of reversal.

Mohammad Amin Valian’s court case is now public and cassation is now possible with a lawyer of Valian’s own choosing. GVF has also learned through various news sources that the Valian’s family have been promised an annulment of their son’s death sentence following the new appeal.

In another sign of further transparency in Valian’s case, a pro-reform lawyer, Alireza Tabatabaei confirmed the news of the death sentence of the Damghan University student when speaking to the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) and said that “the death sentence for this individual [Valian] had been issued in an initial court and there is a chance for appeal until 13 March.”

“Today we went to branch 15 of the revolutionary court along with the public defender of Mohammad Amin Valian’s case and the branch announced that it is possible to make an appeal before 13 March,” Tabatabaei told ILNA.

According to Tabatabaei who is an experienced lawyer in Iran, the current public defender will be responsible for appealing the death sentence and after this stage; Tabatabaei himself will take over as the lawyer in the case.

The Green Voice of Freedom welcomes the judiciary’s retreat from its initial ruling which might have had disastrous consequences, had it been carried out.

Executed prisoner Arash Rahmanipour faced a situation similar to that of Mohammad Amin Valian and was suddenly executed in the most barbaric, swift and secretive way, without the prior notice of his lawyer or his family and against all judicial norms.

The Green Voice of Freedom would like to congratulate all those who assisted in confronting the judiciary’s madness and saving the life of a young student: supporters of the Green Movement, inside and outside Iran, human rights workers, politicians and political parties, journalists, religious clerics and anyone who made the slightest effort to save the life of a fellow human being.

However, we would also like to issue a strong warning to Iranian authorities, that in the case of a similar ruling that violates religious, legal, and human rights guidelines, the Green Voice of Freedom will launch far more rigorous campaigns to put an end to the vandals and marauders of the fraudsters that have turned Iran into another Palestine in the past eight months. The success of the campaign to save Mohammad Amin will only strengthen our resolve to continue in this righteous path in the face of future challenges and adopt a similar approach in overcoming other obstacles in the way of justice and freedom in Iran.

However we also express hope that the authorities will adopt a path towards sanity and that no similar campaign will be necessary for the restoration of the people’s rights and law-abiding citizens such as Mohammad Amin Valian do not have fight against barbaric court proceedings for staying alive.