Iranian Supreme Court orders new investigation into death of journalist

A new investigation has been launched – by an order from the Iranian Supreme Court – into the death of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who was killed in Tehran in 2003, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Alireza Jamshidi, spokesman for the court, said that the court objected to the 2004 acquittal of the intelligence agent accused of killing Kazemi. “The Supreme Court found flaws,” he said, adding that it had questioned the investigation by a different court. “It has sent the case to a new court for investigation.”

Kazemi was arrested while taking pictures outside of Tehran’s Evin Prison. At first, authorities claimed she had died of a stroke, but they then said she had fallen and hit her head.

In the first trial, intelligence agent Muhammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi was charged and acquitted of semi-intentional murder, however, lawyers of the Kazemi family believe he was just a scapegoat. They have accused prison official, Muhammad Bakhshi, of inflicting the final blow.

In the Canadian Parliament, Helena Guergis, the secretary of state for foreign affairs, supported the new investigation, saying “Iran has an obligation to the Kazemi family to ensure that the perpetrators of this terrible crime are brought to justice and the rights of the family are upheld.”

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