Judges are refusing to service in Khuzestan, according to the recently appointed chief of the province's branch of Iran's Ministry of Justice, Dr Abbas Jaafari Dowlat-abadi.
Speaking to the Iranian Student News Agency, Dowlat-abadi claimed that the bad security situation was to blame for the lack of qualified judges in the province (click here for ISNA article).
Controversry has surrounded judgements made by Ahwaz's courts, with one of Iran's leading human rights campaigners, Emad Baghi, claiming that the trials of Ahwazi Arabs accused of terrorism and "enmity with God" were flawed, the charges were baseless, the defendants were subjected to torture, the sentencing was based on a spurious interpretation of the law and the outcome of the trials would inflame Ahwazi anger, causing further unrest and instability in Khuzestan (click here for his letter to the chief of the judiciary). Recently, three Ahwazi Arabs were sentenced to death for stealing livestock - a crime that does not normally carry the death penalty (click for further details).
Labels: human rights
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keywords: ahvaz ahwaz ahwazi arabistan khuzestan khuzistan khuzestani arab arabistan iran iranian human rights security oil news ahmadinejad ethnic cleansing
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