ADME Condemns Recent Executions in Iran
Rabbi Daniel M. Zucker
January 04, 2011
New York, NY — Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East (ADME) condemns the illegal and inhumane executions today in the Islamic Republic of Iran of Ali Saremi, a member of the exiled opposition group the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) and of political prisoner Ali-Akbar Siadat, accused of spying for Israel.
Mr. Saremi, 63, was arrested following his 2007 visit to a son in Camp Ashraf, Iraq, home of 3400 members of MEK. Iranian authorities have arrested other people in the past in part for visiting relatives in the camp. Amnesty International reported that in addition to Mr. Saremi, six others are facing execution after being sentenced to death for links with the MEK.
Iran's official news agency, IRNA, stated that Mr. Saremi was hanged for the "crime" of "moharebeh" or "waging war against God". Under Iran's penal code, imposed since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, waging war against God may carry the death penalty.
Mr. Siadat, arrested in 2008, was convicted on charges that included "spreading corruption on earth," "supporting the Zionist regime" and "opposing the Islamic republic." Earlier this year, Siadat was among 192 detainees named by opposition Web sites as political prisoners in Iran.
Prior to his execution, Mr. Saremi had spent a total of 24 years in prison from various incarcerations under the shah and clerical rule. Though arrested in 2007 after visiting his son, his death sentence came in December 2009, after mass opposition protests were held.
ADME calls on the international human rights community to denounce this inhuman and illegal killing of a man who had spent his life promoting freedom and civil liberties in his homeland. We also call for immediate international action to save the life of his daughter, wife and sister, as well as the others who were arrested for their relations to him. ADME further calls for an end to executions in Iran, especially of any political prisoners.
We urge the U.S. Government to bring immediate pressure upon the Iraqi Government to end its psychological torture of the residents of Camp Ashraf by its use of 140 loud-speakers as well as its medical blockade currently imposed on Camp Ashraf.
Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East is a grassroots organization dedicated to teaching our elected officials and the public of the dangers posed by Islamic fundamentalism and the need to establish genuine democratic institutions in the Middle-East as an antidote to the venom of fundamentalism.
Mr. Saremi, 63, was arrested following his 2007 visit to a son in Camp Ashraf, Iraq, home of 3400 members of MEK. Iranian authorities have arrested other people in the past in part for visiting relatives in the camp. Amnesty International reported that in addition to Mr. Saremi, six others are facing execution after being sentenced to death for links with the MEK.
Iran's official news agency, IRNA, stated that Mr. Saremi was hanged for the "crime" of "moharebeh" or "waging war against God". Under Iran's penal code, imposed since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, waging war against God may carry the death penalty.
Mr. Siadat, arrested in 2008, was convicted on charges that included "spreading corruption on earth," "supporting the Zionist regime" and "opposing the Islamic republic." Earlier this year, Siadat was among 192 detainees named by opposition Web sites as political prisoners in Iran.
Prior to his execution, Mr. Saremi had spent a total of 24 years in prison from various incarcerations under the shah and clerical rule. Though arrested in 2007 after visiting his son, his death sentence came in December 2009, after mass opposition protests were held.
ADME calls on the international human rights community to denounce this inhuman and illegal killing of a man who had spent his life promoting freedom and civil liberties in his homeland. We also call for immediate international action to save the life of his daughter, wife and sister, as well as the others who were arrested for their relations to him. ADME further calls for an end to executions in Iran, especially of any political prisoners.
We urge the U.S. Government to bring immediate pressure upon the Iraqi Government to end its psychological torture of the residents of Camp Ashraf by its use of 140 loud-speakers as well as its medical blockade currently imposed on Camp Ashraf.
Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East is a grassroots organization dedicated to teaching our elected officials and the public of the dangers posed by Islamic fundamentalism and the need to establish genuine democratic institutions in the Middle-East as an antidote to the venom of fundamentalism.
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