November 28, 2007	Wednesday	Ziqa’ad 17, 1428

TEHRAN, Nov 27: Iran’s supreme court has ordered a new trial over the death of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi in a Tehran prison four years ago, after finding faults in the original case, the judiciary said on Tuesday.

Judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi told reporters the supreme court found while reviewing the appeal that the original court was not competent to deal with the case.

“The case has been returned to a competent court which God willing will investigate the case and give the final decision,” he said.

Lawyers for Kazemi’s family have long demanded a fresh probe into what they alleged was her “intentional murder” in custody following her arrest for photographing a protest outside Tehran’s Evin prison in June 2003.

Jamshidi’s announcement appears to indicate the supreme court has found the court that originally heard the case was too junior and will refer it to a higher criminal court for the retrial.

The decision is the latest episode in the long history of a case which has hugely strained relations between Iran and Canada.

Kazemi’s family has been represented by a group of rights lawyers led by Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, and who have repeatedly charged that her death was intentional murder.

In November 2005, the Iranian judiciary acquitted intelligence agent Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi who was initially accused of the crime, and ordered a new probe because of the “shortcomings in the investigations.” The Kazemi family’s legal team had also argued that Aghdam Ahmadi was a lowly scapegoat who was covering the guilt of a higher-ranking official.

The lawyers alleged in court that a justice official in Evin prison, Mohammad Bakhshi, killed her, and also accused Tehran’s feared public prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi of involvement.—AFP