Recently, Iran’s state TV broadcasted coerced confessions of four political prisoners Mohsen Mazloum, Pejman Fatehi, Vafa Azarbar and Hajir Faramarzi. On July 23, 2022, these individuals were arrested in Urmia County. After three months of detention, their lawyer is still denied access to the clients and legal case documents.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Iran’s state TV broadcasted a forced confession video of four political detainees, raising concerns about their conditions and subsequent severe punishments.
After 136 days of detention, these individuals’ families are not informed about their whereabouts and the charges. They have also been denied any access to their lawyer.
On July 23, 2022, security-institution-affiliated news agency Tasnim reported the arrest of “a network of Israeli spies” referring to these individuals. Tasnim also claimed that “having operational and communication equipment and explosive materials, they crossed into the country from the Kurdistan region to carry out unprecedented terrorist operations in some secure-sensitive locations.”
In response, Komalah (CPI-a Kurdish oppositional political party) issued a statement denying all these allegations and warned about intelligence institutions’ conspiring against detainees.
One of the detainees’ wife told HRANA: “Since the arrest, we have been worrying about torturing them to extract confessions. As of yet, we do not even know if they are alive or dead.”
