Iran: Mass Summons of Campaign Activists to Revolutionary Courts

In a sweeping move, courts officials have summoned a number of Campaign activists to the Revolutionary Courts. Campaign activists began receiving telephone calls over the past weeks to appear in the third security branch of the Revolutionary Courts. In turn, they requested written summons.

Thus far, Maryam Malek, Jelve Javaheri, Kave Mozzafari, Parisa Kakaee,and Khadijeh Moghaddam have reported that they have received written summons to appear in court within three days of receiving their summons. The summons were issued on October 21, 2009 and indicated that these activists have to appear in court to respond to interrogations.

About six other members have reported that they have been contacted by telephone and are awaiting summons.

Besides being summoned to court, Khadijeh Moghaddam has been barred from travel. In this respect, she told the site of Change for Equality that she had appeared in court today in relation to her participation in a protes in front of the Palestinian Embassy in support of the citizens of Gaza and refusal to obey the orders of police. During the hearing she was informed that she had been banned from travel. Given that the ban was imposed six months ago, and usually expires after six months, her lawyer Nasim Ghanavi has requested the courts to lift the ban.