Archive for October, 2009

Just 10 days before the one-year anniversary of the arrest of Hossein Derakhshan, his father, Hassan Derakhshan, has written a letter to Ayatollah Larijani, the head of the Department of the Judiciary. The letter was published on the website of Salaam, a reformist newspaper today, October 21, 2009 (29th of Mehr, 1388).

The letter was translated from the original Persian by an Iranian living in California who wished to remain anonymous and edited for clarity by yours truly.

To the Presence of Ayatollah Amoli Larijani, the Respected Head of the Judiciary:

Greetings and respect to you. One year has passed since the day that my son was arrested.

In all these months, days, and hours, my family, my wife and I were hoping that in the arms of Islamic law and the mercy of the Islamic judiciary, Hossein’s case will be dealt with in the way it deserves.

There is no need to mention the numerous times that we refused the requests of foreign media to explain Hossein’s situation.

Even when we heard the worst gossip about his treatment in semi-official media, we were silent and in fact, no government organization has ever denied this worrisome news, not just to calm our very worried hearts down, but at least to respect the independence of judiciary about this case.

During this entire time, our son has had just two short meetings with us for only a few minutes. Please imagine that for every six months we just saw him for very few minutes. We have no information about his legal situation.

No court has been held yet and we don’t even know which institution or security organization Hossein is under the control of. Many times, from many different ways, we tried to get some precision about his situation, but we couldn’t. Does a detainee’s dignified manner deserve such treatment?

Many times, my son admitted in his writings and conversations that he would love to serve his country. And he came back to Iran on his own to answer his accusations. Does such a person who has come back to his country and his beliefs, deserve such a welcome?

Our complaint is not because you are exercising the law, but to the contrary, because of its suspension, lack of information and disrespecting of the law. The accused have rights, the family of the accused has some rights, and we know that the ruler of society has some rights as well, and that rules and regulations are valuable.

We are certain that you’d agree that one year of a brutal arrest of a person who has come voluntarily and on his own to the bosom of Iran and dear Islam, is not an appropriate welcome.

I, my wife and our family are still looking forward to your just treatment.

With respect,

Hassan Derakhshan