Want to read a true story straight out of a spy novel?from a prison in Iran after spending years of their lives behind bars. They had become targets of a relentless campaign of raids, interrogations, arrests, and torture while fighting to safeguard their country’s wildlife and natural resources.
A couple of months later, a panel including the ministers of justice, interior, and intelligence, as well as legal representatives from the president's officeIn early 2018, Morad Tahbaz, Houman Jokar, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Sam Rajabi, Taher Ghadirian, Sepideh Kasahni, Niloufar Bayani, Kavous Seyed-Emami and Abdolreza Kouhpayeh were arrested by intelligence agents working for the powerful Revolutionary Guards in Iran.in prison just over the age of 64.
Between 2020 and 2023, three of the Iranian conservationists were released, some serving their full prison sentences. Last month in April, the final four were freed as part of a pardon, bringing theoutside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, which houses the office of the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss after what she says has been a betrayal of her father by the UK Government.
In Iran, one example of this breach is the arrest and incarceration of members of PWHF who were caught in the crossfire of a rivalry between moderates and conservatives each vying for political influence.away from a tenured professorship in London to serve as deputy head of Iran's Environment Department under Mr. Rouhani in 2017.
“In the worst case, I could have been buried deep in the ground for a crime I didn’t commit. Just like Kavous Seyed-Emami, whose absence is felt more profoundly than ever today,” he adds.