Voluntarily defended by a group of lawyers, Iranian activist and cameraman Mahnaz Alizadeh, 36, was acquitted by the Federal Court in Acre, last Monday (1).
She left Iran due to political persecution, but was eventually detained on the border between Brazil and Peru with a falsified passport and spent 40 days in overcrowded prison in Rio Branco.
“Considering the social context and the work carried out by Mahnaz in Iran, the accused could not be required to have a different pattern of guilt regarding the use of a false document, leaving a patent that only aimed to flee to a safe place, seeking her freedom”, states the Judge Jair Facundes, in sentencing.
Alizadeh’s drama in the country began in August last year, when she was stopped in Assis Brasil (AC) along with six other Iranians by the Federal Police. He was carrying a fake Canadian passport. According to the inquiry, she was a member of an illegal immigration gang along with the Iranian-Canadian coyote Reza Sahami, who was in fact responsible for the group. Only the two were trapped.
Alizadeh was placed in a crowded cell, in a wing controlled by the First Command of the Capital faction (PCC). Without speaking Portuguese and with poor English, he shared a mattress with other inmates and lived with a lack of water. It was her second time in confinement: in Iran, she had been a political prisoner.
In a depressive crisis, the Iranian woman caught the attention of the Ombudsman of the Public Defender of Acre, Solene Oliveira da Costa. She turned to Rede Liberdade, which works in cases of human rights violations.
Abroad, cinema professionals began to alert to the situation of Alizadeh. Her last work in Iran was in an American-produced documentary about lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes by the ayatollahs’ regime for defending women’s rights.
The cameraman was released in October 2020, but was only able to leave Brazil in the first half of this year. Today, she lives on a temporary basis in a country she prefers not to name, for fear of reprisals from Sahami, the coyote. When he left Iran, his goal was to reach Canada.
“I have been away from my country for two years and I still have an undefined situation due to the misfortunes I had with the rushed plans to leave, out of fear, the country I love. In these two years, I faced horrible and dark days in which I felt lost in time and space, without an identity,” said the Iranian woman, through a text message, referring to the prison in Rio Branco.
“On these dark days, the name Sun [Solene] it was the only light that made me believe I wasn’t alone at the end of the world. I’ve also met very strong women with kind hearts, trapped by life’s injustices and a dysfunctional justice system. I also met a guard and a director [Marcelo Lopes] that were very human, [em que] despite the strict and very inhumane rules.”
Alizadeh also thanked the sheet, who published her story in February, and the lawyers who made her defense: “I experienced the positive effect and power of the free press on my flesh and blood. After my interview with Fabiano [Maisonnave, repórter do jornal] and from his mighty writing, my situation has changed drastically.”
“It was like her being seen again, and I met many more good-hearted Brazilians: kind people who sent me love and support and a group of strong and professional lawyers who took on my complicated case, for the kindness in their hearts and for their sense of responsibility and justice. It was as a result of your great effort that I was able to prove my innocence,” he added.
After the report was published, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) dropped the accusation that Alizadeh belonged to Sahami’s illegal immigration criminal organization, but upheld the accusation of using a false passport. Justice absolved her of both. Sought, the agency said it will not appeal.
“The MPF understood, after the prosecution of the criminal action, that Mahnaz was a person politically exposed in his country of origin and that he was threatened with imprisonment if he continued or returned to Iran, this being basically the motivation for his actions, with no evidence that she would act for any financial advantage,” says the press release.
Sahami, who acted as the coyote of Alizadeh and the other Iranians, was sentenced, at the request of the Public Ministry, to three years and six months of imprisonment, converted into a penalty payment of 50 minimum wages (BRL 59,620). After a few weeks in prison, however, he left Brazil in late 2020.
In an interview with Canadian magazine Maclean’s, Sahami admitted to having received money from Alizadeh for the trip to Canada, but said that the responsibility rested with an agency. Although he was already on the radar of American authorities, his conviction in Brazil was the first for immigration crimes.
“I understand that the decision was fair for both, but having to submit to the process was not fair for Mahnaz. The Brazilian State should have been more judicious already at the police investigation stage, recognizing its condition as a victim, not prosecuting it. the important thing is that, in the end, his complete innocence was proved”, says the lawyer at Rede Liberdade and professor at USP Helena Lobo da Costa.
The other lawyers who acted in defense of the activist were Maria Jamile José, Estela Aranha and Marilia Scriboni.
“It’s been two days since I learned of my absolution, and the world has become more beautiful for me, with a sense of security and justice. I’ve regained my identity,” says Alizadeh. “I owe that great feeling to all those lovely people who helped me through my ordeal.”
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