AUCKLAND, New Zealand: The pro-democracy cleric Ayatollah Yasubedin Rastegari has been imprisoned for unknown charges since 27th April 2004. Ayatollah Rastegari has been detained or arrested on numerous occasions for speaking against what he considers to be undemocratic legislations and activities of the government of Iran.

He has on several occasions criticized the Iranian government’s systematic oppression of its citizens and support of both internal and foreign militant groups. In every instance of his arrest, he has been a prisoner of conscience. During imprisonment, he has been subjected to torture, solitary confinement and has been refused access to family and friends.

Ayatollah Rastegari’s recent arrest comes after writing a book titled The Reality of Unity in Religion in which he has criticized the activities of the current government of Iran under the leadership of Ali Khamenei.

Since his arrest, Ayatollah Rastegari has not been officially charged and there is no information about his whereabouts (although he is believed to be held in the Evin Prison in Tehran). The seventy eight year old academic is in poor health and in need of constant monitoring for his heart disease and diabetes.

The imprisonment of Ayatollah Rastegari is against article 19 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and The United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Iran is a member and a signatory.

The International Shia Cultural and Human Rights Organization (ISCHRO) is seriously disturbed by the government of Iran’s systematic abuse of clerics and academics and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Ayatollah Rastegari. Furthermore, ISCHRO urges the Iranian government to compensate Ayatollah Rastegari and his family for any kind of suffering or harm caused to them and to ensure that he can return to his academic work without hindrance.