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July 14, 2010

The first session of second round of court hearing for Dr. Akbar Karami, writer, religious scholar and human rights activist, was held on Tuesday July 13, 2010 at the Revolutionary Court of Qom, while his wife Shirin Firouzi described the “physical and emotional conditions of her husband serious and extremely worrying.”

In a letter to RAHANA, Mrs Shirin Firouzi has written that: “I  had never seen my husband this fragile, depressed, ill and diseased during our marriage. Signs of illness and mental fatigue occuring from pressures imposed to my husband were so evident in his face that we were saddened by his arrival at the court, and had to take his mother of the court hall.”

Spreading corruption and prostitution through publishing article, insulting the president, publishing lies and disturbing the public opinion are charges raised during the second court hearing of Dr. Akbar Karami and he has presented his self-defence to the court.

Since his arrest on 24 November 2009 and solitary confinement for several months, this is the second judicial case of Dr. Akbar Karami which is being investigated.

Previously, Qom Revolutionary Court had sentenced Dr Karami to 3 years in prison, paying $200 monetary fine and complete destruction of his PC’s hard disk on charges of publishing articles in the fields of democracy and human rights, giving interviews leading to propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and insulting the leader.

The family members of Dr. Akbar Karami some of whom prwere previously detained and threatened for having followed up his case demand the his unconditional release or approval of his prison leave.