Watchdog

Jailed Iranian religious scholar Ahmad Ghabel has appeared in court where he again denied charges of acting against national security, his wife has told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.

Ghabel was arrested in December on his way to the funeral of senior dissident cleric Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. He spent six months in jail before being released on bail, then was rearrested last month in Mashhad, northeastern Iran.

His wife, Marzieh Pasdar, said the October 20 hearing was held in branch five of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad in the presence of Ghabel's lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, and family members.

Pasdar said there was no representative for the prosecutor present at the session.

"Ahmad Ghabel was only questioned about his intentions behind [the charge of] acting against national security, in response to which he denied the charges completely and emphasized that he had in fact acted against those who act against the principles of Islam and law," Pasdar told RFE/RL.

Pasdar said Ghabel's actions were more in favor of national security and the government than against them.

"The judge postponed the case for another 10 days due to the absence of the representative of the prosecutor and the objection of Ghabel's lawyer regarding that matter," she said, adding that he has been asked to submit his defense in writing to the court by then.

A critic of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ghabel was also arrested in 2001 after writing an open letter critical of him. Ghabel then spent 125 days in solitary confinement in Tehran's Evin prison.

BISHKEK -- Prominent Kyrgyz human rights defender Tolekan Ismailova says she has returned to Kyrgyzstan after fleeing because of threats against her, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Ismailova, chairwoman of the Bishkek-based Citizens Against Corruption human rights group, returned to Kyrgyzstan on October 13.

She told RFE/RL that she decided to come back because of the pressure that has been exerted on rights activists and lawyers following deadly interethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan in June.

"I could not remain abroad when my colleagues are being attacked and harassed [in Kyrgyzstan]," she told RFE/RL on October 16.

Ismailova left Kyrgyzstan three months ago after she was threatened by unknown people for her negative assessment of the government's response to the violent clashes in the southern regions of Osh and Jalal-Abad that left more than 400 people dead.

Ismailova criticized the interim government and security forces for their inability to prevent the clashes.

A group of rights activists in Jalal-Abad said last week that they had been threatened by unknown people who claimed to represent a political party that won parliamentary representation in the October 10 elections.