Berlin Conference 2000

Following the overwhelming reformist victory in Iran's parliamentary elections of February 2000, the Heinrich Boll Foundation, in cooperation with the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures), held the controversial conference "Iran after the Elections" in April of 2000. The conference was intended to encourage cultural and economic ties between Iranian reformers, Iranian exiles, and the general German public, as well as provide information on the status of Iran.

Seventeen speakers were from Iranian reformists parties, both religious and secular.

The Iranian press filmed the conference and broadcast it in Iran several weeks later, causing an uproar. The Berlin Conference came under attack by conservative elements who considered the proceedings defamation of the Islamic Republic of Iran. All of the Iranian speakers were prosecuted by Tehran officials on charges such as harming "national security," "propaganda against the state," and "insulting Islam." Notable defendants included the lawyer Mehrangiz Kar, publisher Shahla Lahiji, student leader Ali Afshan, researcher Hojjat al-Islam Hassan Yousefi Eshkevari, politician Ezzatollah Sahabi, and journalist Akbar Ganji.

Mehrangiz Kar and Shahla Lahiji--both women's rights defenders--and Ali Afshari were detained without charge for over two months. Kar and Lahiji were both denied the legal right to a public trial and tried on 31 October, 2000 behind closed doors.

Upon his return from Europe in August of 2000, Hojjat alIslam Hassan Yousefi Eshkevari was arrested on vague charges of defamation, heresy, being a threat to national security, being at war with God, and corruption on earth--a charge punishable by death. He was convicted in October in a disputable trial by the Special Court for the Clergy. Eshkevari was released after serving four years of a seven-year sentence.

Ezzatollah Sahabi was arrested in late April 2000 and then released on bail in late August of that year with a trial pending in November. Sahabi faced charges that were not made known, but were believed to be in connection with his statements at the Berlin Conference. He was rearrested and released on bail several times for related statements in other arenas, until finally in May 2003 he was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison. Suffering ill health, he was released in 2005.

Most notably involved was Akbar Ganji. Arrested and charged with similar offenses as his peers, Ganji used his trial to controversially speak out. He made claims against AH Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani and went on to accuse Ali Fallahian, who Ganji referred to as the "Master Key," of ordering murders while he was the intelligence minister. Many others fell under scrutiny due to Ganji's testimony which publicly revealed corruption.

Expectedly, he was convicted and then sentenced to 11 years in prison, the longest sentence received in connection with the conference. As of 2006, Ganji is still serving his sentence.