Dailami & Miftah go on hunger strike [Archives:2005/817/Front Page]
February 18 2005
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Clerics Yahaya al-Dailami and Mohammed Miftah commenced a hunger strike on Feb. 13, in protest against violations of their constitutional rights, said a statement circulated publicly on Sunday by their families.
“With the new violations – their being deprived of visitation rights and being put into solitary imprisonment – they have decided to resort to a hunger strike,” the statement said. The clerics were also reported to have been insulted by head of the court, Judge Najib Qadiri.
The defense team of the two scholars issued a statement last week, which described the trials as a”theater”. They refused the attend the court session because they can not perform their duty and don't want to be “perjurers.”
The lawyers said they were not denied copying the case file, which prevented them from defending their clients. The court persistently refused to permit them to give the lawyers access to the files or get a copy of it.
The court, instead, has appointed a lawyer from their side to defend the accused during the trial, the statement mentioned. The pair have stopped following up the trial as they are deprived of their legal rights of being able to defend themselves.
Hundreds of people, men and women, gathered last Sunday at the gate of the Penal Court to show solidarity with Dailami and Miftah. They expressed their indignation through prayers to God to take revenge on the rulers. “They showed their utter objection to the anti-clerics oppressive acts, driven by political motives,” the statement said.
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