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Alert

Police acknowledge rogue elements responsible for recent murders of writers

(WiPC/IFEX) - According to the "London Guardian", on 6 January 1999, the
Iranian secret police acknowledged that a rogue element within its own ranks
had been responsible for murdering the three writers found dead in November
and December last year.





**Updates IFEX alerts of 17 December, 14 December, 11 December, 10 December,
9 December, 7 December and 27 November 1998**

Majid Sharif was found dead in a morgue in Tehran on 24 November 1998;
Mohammad Moukhtari was found dead on 3 December, bearing marks of having
been strangled; and Mohammad Ja'far Pouyandeh was found dead on 11 December.
Two other dissidents - a married couple - were found murdered in their home
in the same period. After both an international and domestic outcry,
President Khatami announced that he had set up a committee to investigate
this chilling spate of killings.

On 6 January the Ministry of Intelligence released a statement saying that
the "hateful
murders" had been carried out by some of its own agents acting independently
and that these individuals had now been arrested. Such an admission of
culpability by Iran's police is unprecedented.

Recommended Action

Send appeals to authorities:

welcoming the fact that the perpetrators of last year's horrific spate
of
crimes against writers appear to have been identified and apprehended

urging the government to do everything possible to ensure that such
crimes
are prevented in the future and that members of the police forces be made
fully
accountable for their actions

Appeals To

His Excellency Hojatoleslam val-moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 64 66 415

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

Source:

Writers in Prison Committee, PEN International
Brownlow House
50-51 High Holborn
London WC1V 6ER
United Kingdom
wipc (@) pen-international.org
Phone: +44 20 74050338
Fax: +44 20 74050339
@pen_int

 

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