Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Last week, I spoke with various members of the Alinejad family. The first interview was with Dr. Alinejad, Reza’s father. Dr. Alinejad is a pathologist who takes great pride in having raised his seven children (three boys and four girls) with strong values and great emphasis on education. He repeatedly informed me that Reza has never been an aggressive boy and that what has happened to him is a true travesty and a denial of justice.
In describing Reza’s attackers, one of whom was killed while Reza tried to defend himself, Dr. Alinejad explained that the men had a reputation for starting trouble and harassing the local youth. According to Dr. Alinejad, there was even an outstanding arrest warrant for Mohammad (the deceased) based on prior incidents that included possession of illegal drugs and theft. In this context, the two men were well known as local thugs. It was because of harassment from similar individuals in the past, and in particular due to one incident that Dr. Alinejad described in detail, that Reza had felt the need to carry a pocket knife on his person, particularly if he was going to be out after dark.
After the incident, Reza was truly shocked by what had happened. He was particularly traumatized by the judge who presided over his case, since, before the hearing even began and before reviewing the evidence, the judge repeatedly made comments to Reza and others present, stating that Reza was going to hang for what he had done. This treatment, continued Dr. Alinejad, was terrifying to the young boy, who repeatedly maintained that he had acted only in self-defense and had never meant to kill Mohamad.
Dr. Alinejad was extremely critical of Iran’s justice system, and explained that he welcomed the opportunity to personally inform Ayatollah Shahroudi, Iran’s head of judiciary, and other officials of his views. In addition, Dr. Alinejad looked forward to submitting a 21 page defense letter that he has written to the officials about Reza’s case.
Approximately two days later, I was contacted by Reza’s mother, a truly gentle and well-spoken woman who is equally proud of the seven children she has raised. According to Mrs. Alinejad, despite overwhelming prevalence of illegal drug use in Iran’s prison system, Reza has maintained a healthy life style and had even tried, for some time, to attend classes to obtain his high school diploma. However, the classes were soon shut down, forcing Reza to read and study on his own. As a result, the progress towards his high school diploma is going slower than he had hoped, but he is making progress none the less.
Mrs. Alinejad further informed me that Reza is aware of the international effort to save his life. According to Reza’s mother, the Alinejad family prints the information about the campaign to save him and mails the articles and related information to him on a regular basis. In addition, the family visits Reza in jail approximately once a month. He seems to be in good spirits, but is truly looking forward to returning to his family and resuming his studies.
Today, Reza’s brother, Meghdad Alinejad, informed me that Reza had called their mother from jail for the Persian new year (“Norooz”), informing her that he had stayed awake until “Sal Tahvil,” the exact moment that the year changes and spring arrives, and that he was allowed to have a small “Haft Seen,” the traditional Persian new year's display of seven items starting with the letter “S” in Farsi. The Alinejad family hopes to celebrate the new year with the entire family, including Reza, this time next year.
Please continue to voice your objection to the execution of Reza Alinejad by, at the very least, signing this petition. You can find out about more actions that you can take to save Reza’s life, as well as that of Delara Darabi and others at www.SaveDelara.com.
Regards,
Lily Mazahery
* Lily Mazahery is a human rights lawyer and the co-author of the petition demanding a stay of execution for Reza Alinejad.
Printed with the express of Lily Mazaheri and www.SaveDelara.com
Last week, I spoke with various members of the Alinejad family. The first interview was with Dr. Alinejad, Reza’s father. Dr. Alinejad is a pathologist who takes great pride in having raised his seven children (three boys and four girls) with strong values and great emphasis on education. He repeatedly informed me that Reza has never been an aggressive boy and that what has happened to him is a true travesty and a denial of justice. In describing Reza’s attackers, one of whom was killed while Reza tried to defend himself, Dr. Alinejad explained that the men had a reputation for starting trouble and harassing the local youth. According to Dr. Alinejad, there was even an outstanding arrest warrant for Mohammad (the deceased) based on prior incidents that included possession of illegal drugs and theft. In this context, the two men were well known as local thugs. It was because of harassment from similar individuals in the past, and in particular due to one incident that Dr. Alinejad described in detail, that Reza had felt the need to carry a pocket knife on his person, particularly if he was going to be out after dark.
After the incident, Reza was truly shocked by what had happened. He was particularly traumatized by the judge who presided over his case, since, before the hearing even began and before reviewing the evidence, the judge repeatedly made comments to Reza and others present, stating that Reza was going to hang for what he had done. This treatment, continued Dr. Alinejad, was terrifying to the young boy, who repeatedly maintained that he had acted only in self-defense and had never meant to kill Mohamad.
Dr. Alinejad was extremely critical of Iran’s justice system, and explained that he welcomed the opportunity to personally inform Ayatollah Shahroudi, Iran’s head of judiciary, and other officials of his views. In addition, Dr. Alinejad looked forward to submitting a 21 page defense letter that he has written to the officials about Reza’s case.
Approximately two days later, I was contacted by Reza’s mother, a truly gentle and well-spoken woman who is equally proud of the seven children she has raised. According to Mrs. Alinejad, despite overwhelming prevalence of illegal drug use in Iran’s prison system, Reza has maintained a healthy life style and had even tried, for some time, to attend classes to obtain his high school diploma. However, the classes were soon shut down, forcing Reza to read and study on his own. As a result, the progress towards his high school diploma is going slower than he had hoped, but he is making progress none the less.
Mrs. Alinejad further informed me that Reza is aware of the international effort to save his life. According to Reza’s mother, the Alinejad family prints the information about the campaign to save him and mails the articles and related information to him on a regular basis. In addition, the family visits Reza in jail approximately once a month. He seems to be in good spirits, but is truly looking forward to returning to his family and resuming his studies.
Today, Reza’s brother, Meghdad Alinejad, informed me that Reza had called their mother from jail for the Persian new year (“Norooz”), informing her that he had stayed awake until “Sal Tahvil,” the exact moment that the year changes and spring arrives, and that he was allowed to have a small “Haft Seen,” the traditional Persian new year's display of seven items starting with the letter “S” in Farsi. The Alinejad family hopes to celebrate the new year with the entire family, including Reza, this time next year.
Please continue to voice your objection to the execution of Reza Alinejad by, at the very least, signing this petition. You can find out about more actions that you can take to save Reza’s life, as well as that of Delara Darabi and others at www.SaveDelara.com.
Regards,
Lily Mazahery
* Lily Mazahery is a human rights lawyer and the co-author of the petition demanding a stay of execution for Reza Alinejad.
Printed with the express of Lily Mazaheri and www.SaveDelara.com