Said Matinpour

Said Matinpour, journalist for the Azeri-language weekly Yarpagh, was arrested on 25 May 2007, and held incommunicado in pre-trial detention in section 209 of Evin Prison for 205 days, where he was reportedly ill-treated and denied access to a lawyer and his family. On 26 February 2008, he was released on bail when his family was finally able to rise the 5 billion Rai requested (approx. $550,000). On 11 June 2008, Matinpour was sentenced to eight years in prison, suspended, by a Tehran revolutionary court behind closed doors on charges of ‘maintaining relations with foreigners' and ‘publicity against the Islamic Republic'. His lawyer was not present at the hearing. His sentence was upheld on appeal.

Said Matinpour, aged 32, has a masters degree in philosophy from Tehran University, and has written for a number of publications including the magazine Mardom-e Now. Matinpour is known for his writings protesting alleged human rights violations by the Iranian authorities and calling for increased political, cultural and linguistic rights of the Azerbaijani people in Iran, including the right to primary education and to publish in Azerbaijani language.