Mino Hemati's interview with Delara's Lawyer

I found the interview with Delara's lawyer enlightening. The interview was conducted a couple of months ago by Mino Hemati, who seems to have played a significant role in obtaining amnesty in the case of Nazanin Fatehi. Here's an excerpt:


From Rahai-Zan, as I had explained before, on June 28th of last year, an organization headed by Nahid Riazi went to the European Parliament in Brussels and met with members of parliament to discuss four specific cases: Delara Darabi, Nazanin Fatehi, Kobra Rahmanpour, and Fatemeh Haghigat-Pejou. They took these specific cases to the parliament and after meeting with members of parliament, on [July] 12, meaning less than one month, in 3 weeks, the parliament issued a response to Rahai Zan, stating that Angelika Beer, president of Iran’s representation in the European Parliament, and [an official] of European Union’s Human Rights Commission announced that they have requested more information from us about those cases and they informed us that they were looking into those specific cases.

On August 7, Mr. Elmar Brok, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Foreign Relations’s Committee, via direct contact with Rahai Zan stated that they have submitted a letter to Akbar Ahani, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Belgium, noting Iran’s membership in the Convention on Civil Rights and seeking amnesty for these women. They highlighted the fact that two of these women, Delara Darabi and Nazanin Fatehi, were under the age of 18 when the alleged crimes occurred and they placed great emphasis on this issue and demanded the release of these four individuals.

On January 16, Amnesty International requested amnesty in the case of 18 year old Nazanin and 19 year old Delara Darabi. Amnesty International demanded the release of all four women, but as I mentioned, it placed special emphasis on the release of Nazanin Fatehi and Delara Darabi. And since then, there has been a campaign to save these women, and this campaign, by Amnesty International, continues, and, as I speak to you, there is a vast signature drive underway, and we have added the links to .tv and .org websites. I ask that you sign these petitions, and whether inside or outside Iran, I request that international entities, supporters of human rights and women’s rights, and others send in your objections by mail or fax to judicial authorities in Iran and embassies against all executions, but particularly with respect to Delara Darabi.

You can read the actual interview with Delara Darabi's lawyer, Abdolsamad Khoramshahi, here.