Swiss Embassy in Tehran has served the Islamic Republic of Iran as the Defendant on August 19, 2020. The service has been completed under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Iran has 60 days to answer to our Complaint. Our office received the confirmation of service from the Department of State today. Read more about the case here.
Washington, DC. August 28, 2019. Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian American journalist, writer, and human rights activist, filed an action against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyed Ali Khamenei its supreme leader, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for torture, hostage-taking, and extrajudicial killing of her father, Mr. Siamak Pourzand, who was subjected to torture, solitary confinement, forced confession, and lack of medical care that ultimately led to his death in 2011. The Iranian government claimed his death to be suicide by jumping from the 6th-floor balcony of the apartment where he was being held under house arrest; however suspicions to the contrary, there are reports that he was thrown by the government agents.
Siamak Pourzand was a journalist and film critic. He was the manager of the Majmue-ye Farrhangi-ye Honari-ye Tehran, a cultural center for writers, artists, and intellectuals. In later years, Pourzand was also a cultural commentator for several reformist newspapers that have since been shut down. He is well known for his articles critical of the Islamic regime and is said to have been working with foreign-based Farsi language media prior to his detention.
Siamak Pourzand went missing on November 24, 2001, it was later learned that he was being held incommunicado by the Iranian intelligence. On March 6, 2002, Iranian authorities began closed and unannounced proceedings against Pourzand. On May 3, 2002, the Tehran Press Court reportedly sentenced him to 11 years in prison on charges of “undermining state security through his links with monarchists and counter-revolutionaries.” The charges against him are based on confessions that were extracted under duress during the months he was held in incommunicado detention. During his time in detention and house arrest, Ms. Zand and her family were in constant stress and were active in bringing international attention to Iran's brutal acts.
سفارت سویس در تهران احضاریه دادگاه #فدرال برای جمهوری اسلامی ایران را ،برای پرونده #بنفشه #زند بر علیه ایران، رسماتحویل وزارت امورخارجه ایران داد. بنابر قوانین فدرال، ایران ۶۰ روز فرصت دارد تا رسما در دادگاه شرکت کند. ایران در ماه فوریه ازتحویل پرونده توسط دفتر #هریسچی خودداری کرده بود. به روز #دادخواهی نزدیک میشویم.