Journalist Emaddedin Baghi who is also the head of Iran’s Organization for the Defense ‎of Prisoners' Rights (Anjomane Defa az Hoghooghe Zendanian) has been in Evin prison ‎for 6 days now. He has written a letter to ayatollah Shahrudi, the head of the country’s ‎judiciary branch of government in which he mentions the threats that have been made ‎against him, and the violations of human rights by security and judiciary agencies.‎

Baghi’s letter states that the association has been under threats and attacks ever since he ‎established it. “What is the difference between being in prison or outside it? You tell us ‎where are the red lines. As a citizen and writer who wishes to utilize his right to express ‎his opinion and to whom the right to criticize, contest, write and speak are like the right ‎to water and air, how can I write when I am summoned by the court every day and ‎threatened with imprisonment,” the letter reads. ‎

The letter cites some of the threats and torment he has been subjected to, including ‎summons to the special court for the clergy, a ban on teaching at the university, ‎revocation of a publishing licence, threats to his life, repeated summons to Tehran’s ‎military tribunal and other courts, three years of imprisonment, a ban on publishing any ‎books, ban on giving interviews to foreign radio stations including Radio Farda, the ‎Voice of America, BBC, Radio France, revocation of the Jomhuriat newspaper, ban on ‎writing, being subjected to telephone surveillance, being followed by security agents, 23 ‎instances of summons, ban on participating in scientific and human rights conferences ‎and seminars, being banned from leaving the country, etc

Baghi addresses Shahrudi and asks him to, “Think about what needs to be done since he ‎is the authority legally responsible for protecting the rights of citizens. What would you ‎have done if you were in my place? Are the conditions outside any different from what ‎they are inside the prisons? You tell us where the red lines are. .. Why is it not possible to ‎follow the legal channels and establish a non-governmental organization that is non-‎political and simply active in the sphere of human rights?”‎

As a lawyer, Baghi defended the victims of the serial murders in late 80s when Iran’s ‎intelligence agencies murdered a number of the country’s intellectuals but some of whom ‎were subsequently arrested and the plots exposed. He founded the Organization for the ‎Prisoners Rights in 2005. He was awarded the 2004 Civil Courage Prize in New York to ‎where he was barred from traveling.‎