Watchdog

The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has criticized the conditions in which jailed Iranian journalists are being held, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports.

RSF issued a statement on April 1 that declared Iranian officials responsible for the lives of journalists in custody who are sick and asked prison authorities to release them unconditionally.

Reza Moini, RSF's Iran section spokesman, told Radio Farda that according to the families of some arrested writers, the journalists "face difficult conditions in prison."

RSF asserts that some of the detained journalists' lives are at risk. Moini said that "clearly a detainee who has difficulty breathing and is repeatedly fainting [while in prison] does not have good health" and may be at risk to his or her life.

The RSF statement named those journalists whose health is poor and puts them at risk, including Mohammad-Sadigh Kabudvand, Said Matinpur, and Emadeddin Baghi.

Concerning the difficult situation facing Kabudvand, who has been jailed in Tehran's Evin prison since 2008, Moini said Kabudvand "has dealt with heart problems and [even] had a minor heart attack."

Kabudvand "also has lung, prostate, and liver problems and should be under medical supervision," Moini said. "But he is not allowed to leave on a temporary release and doesn't have permission to have a check-up with a doctor."

Another journalist whose case was highlighted by RSF is Matinpur, who is serving an eight-year prison sentence. According to Matinpur's family he is extremely sick and has serious heart and stomach problems.

Moini also noted the situation of Baghi, who has suffered several heart attacks in prison.

An Azerbaijani policeman jailed for "inflicting damage" on a fellow police officer says his prison sentence is linked to a case he has filed at the European Court of Human Rights, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

Major Emin Ahmadbayov was sentenced on March 31 in Baku to three years in prison for damaging the uniform of a policeman who stopped him for allegedly violating traffic regulations while driving his patrol car in December.

Ahmadbayov said his arrest was politically motivated because he had filed a lawsuit against the Interior Ministry at the European court in Strasbourg. His lawyer, Namiq Haciyev, told RFE/RL on March 30 that they will appeal the verdict.

A witness, Hacar Mammadova, testified in court that she saw the incident from her apartment window. She said the policeman stopped Ahmadbayov, took his mobile phone and identification papers from him, and then started hitting him.

Mammadova added that the policeman tore the epaulettes from his police uniform before getting back in his car and driving away.

The charge against Ahmadbayov for "inflicting damage" on the officer was based on a police report that he had torn the epaulettes from the policeman's uniform.

'Defending His Rights'

The case with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg was filed due to Ahmadbayov being fired as a policeman in 2003 after a dispute with the boss of his wife, who worked at the Interior Ministry.

But Ahmadbayov appealed to President Ilham Aliyev and, after a meeting with Interior Minister Ramil Usubov, was given his job back in 2006 and his wife's boss was fired.

Ahmadbayov then demanded he be paid compensation for the three years he was unable to work for the police, but his lawsuit was rejected by the courts.

The rejection led Ahmadbayov to file a case against the Interior Ministry with the Strasbourg court. He has also appealed his case to Aliyev.

Ahmadbayov insists he is being jailed for simply defending his rights.