http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9EA21FAB-47A5-4B99-A1B3-9CBC36901B44.htm
Iranian lawyer fears for hunger striker
Sunday 24 July 2005, 13:23 Makka Time, 10:23 GMT
Iranian human rights lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has
warned that her client, jailed journalist Akbar Ganji, is in failing health and
complained she had not been allowed to visit him.
Ganji, 46, an outspoken critic of the state's clerical leadership, was jailed
in 2001. He was taken to hospital last Sunday after a five-week hunger strike.
His wife said on Friday his health was deteriorating.
"I call on the judiciary and human rights groups to pay serious attention to my
client's dangerous situation," Ebadi said in a statement.
"Ganji's wife says his hunger strike continues in the hospital. He has even
lost weight since being hospitalised."
Visits barred
Ebadi also criticised Iran's judiciary for refusing to allow her to visit him.
"As Ganji's lawyer I have not been allowed to visit him in the hospital," said
Ebadi. "This is unlawful."
Outgoing President Khatami (R)
has called for Ganji's parole
There was no immediate official response to the statement.
Ganji's family and rights activists say he has lost more than 23kg during his
43-day hunger strike, which he says is a protest against his continued
detention while suffering chronic asthma and back pain.
Senior judiciary officials have denied the investigative journalist is on
hunger strike and said his admission to hospital last weekend was for knee
surgery.
Pardon being considered
Ganji, a former Revolutionary Guard turned radical reformer, was sentenced to
six years in prison after a series of articles he wrote linked officials to the
murder of political dissidents.
The European Union and the United States have both called for his release.
Iran's outgoing President Mohammad Khatami has urged that Ganji be paroled
since he has just six months of his sentence left to complete.
Iran's judiciary has said it will not yield to international pressure to free
Ganji, but a senior judiciary official said on Thursday that a pardon might be
considered.
Tehran has a dismal record on press freedom, closing more than 100 liberal
publications and jailing several journalists in a concerted crackdown on
reformist media since 2000.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://www.ppi-india.org
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