Detention of Hossein Ronaghi Maleki Confirmed After Three Days Missing

On February 26, three days after civil activist Hossein Ronaghi Maleki went missing, his lawyers informed the family that he was arbitrarily detained by security forces and a new legal case has been opened against him.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on February 23, Maleki’s family announced that his son was missing until last Saturday, when their lawyers confirmed he had been abducted and detained by security forces.

Following his lawyer’s inquiry with judicial authorities in Evin Courthouse, it was revealed that a new legal case has been opened against him in Branch 2 of the Prosecutor Office, headed by Mahmood Haj-Moradi.

Confirming this news, one of his lawyers told HRANA that “they did not allow Hossein’s lawyers to access to the documents of this case”.

A source close to Ronaghi told HRANA that the Ministry of Intelligence’s agents had abducted him. One day after he went missing, intelligence agents searched his house using a key they had confiscated from him. During his detention, they did not allow him to contact his family to inform them about his arrest and whereabouts.

The charges against him are still unknown at the time of writing.

Ronaghi suffers from severe kidney problems. During his last incarceration, this granted him an imprisonment intolerance certificate, raising concerns about his health condition.

Ronaghi has faced other arrests and convictions due to his civil activities.

Detained Civil Activist Abbas Vahedian Shahroudi Hospitalized

On February 26, educator and civil activist Abbas Vahedian Shahroudi was hospitalized in critical condition in Mashhad City. However, on Monday, while he was in needed treatment, he was forcefully sent back to a detention centre by security forces. He has been held in a solitary confinement cell for six months in a detention centre in Mashhad.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights, a source close to his family reported that he was dispatched to a hospital following symptoms such as poisoning, shortness of breath and low heart rate leading to partial consciousness. Security forces did not allow visitation or let him inform his family. Monday, he was sent back to his cell despite uncompleted treatment.

Earlier, HRANA reported his poor health condition in a solitary confinement cell in a detention center at the disposal of the Ministry of Intelligence.

On September 1 of this year, intelligence agents arrested Vahedian in Rezvanshahr County. Two days later, in a phone call to his family, he informed them that a news case had been opened against him on a charge of “acting against national security”. Meanwhile, his daughter’s home in Mashhad was searched by security forces and some personal belongings were confiscated.

Vahedian has previously been arrested and convicted for his writings and civil activities. In one case, he was arrested in Mashhad in October 2018 and later charged by Branch 903 of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad with “acting against national security”, and “attempting to overthrow the regime”. He was released on bail of 350 million tomans from Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad in December 2018.

Shortly after his interrogation, in August 2019, Vahedian was again arrested and transferred to Vakilabad Prison. He was one of the 14 signatories of a letter of request for the resignation of Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran. He was released on bail from Vakilabad Prison in July 2020.

Vahedian is an author of several books including “The Return of Genghis Khan”, published by Khatam Publishing in Mashhad.

Eight Inmates Executed in Various Prisons

On February 27, two inmates convicted for drug-related crimes and murder were executed in Jiroft and Khorramabad prisons, respectively. Wednesday, an inmate convicted for murder was executed in Ilam Central Prison and five inmates convicted for murder were executed in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj City.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, last Wednesday and Sunday, eight inmates were executed in various prisons.

Kurdpa reported that an inmate identified as Farshad Farzi, age 30, who was convicted for murder eight years ago was executed in Ilam Central Prison.

Iran Human Rights Organization reported that on Wednesday, in Rajai Shahr prison, prison officials carried out the execution of five inmates. Two of these inmates have been identified as Hamed Azizi and Mehran Jafari.

According to an informed source, “Hamed Azizi had killed someone in a fight over a woman. Mehran Jafari had killed his brother-in-law. Despite [Jafari] being a father of two children, the victim’s family insisted on his execution”.

This organization also reported that an inmate identified as Ali Heydar Dehghani, age 40, was executed in Korramabad Prison.

In a report by the Baloch Activists Campaign, on February 27, an inmate identified as Jasem Ghanbari was executed in Jiroft Prison. Three years ago, he was arrested for a drug-related crime and since then had been jailed. He is married and the father of two children.

Inmate on Death Row Dies by Suicide in Lakan Prison

On February 23, an inmate on death row in Lakan Prison, Rasht City, died by suicide after a fight with his fellow inmate.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the inmate cut the artery in his wrist and lost his life.

HRANA has identified the inmate as Seyyed Ali Rezai, age 18, a resident of Someh-Sara City.

An informed source told HRANA: “Yesterday, at 4 pm, this inmate had a quarrel with his fellow inmate, Hossein Besazandi, age 20, who also has been convicted for murder and held in Ward 8 of Lakan Prison. In this fight, Hossein Besazandi was injured by a sharp object and lost consciousness due to wounds. After that, Ali Rezai, who thought he was dead, committed suicide.”

Political Prisoner Peyman Gholami Hospitalized Due to COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress

Political prisoner Peyman Gholami was dispatched from Evin Prison to a hospital in Tehran due to acute respiratory distress from COVID-19. Because of severe hypoxia, he has been transferred to the ICU.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Gholami has been hospitalized in the ICU of the hospital in Tehran.

According to an informed source, many inmates housed in Salon 10, Ward 8 of Evin Prison, including Saeed Samimi and Payam Shakiba, have shown COVID-19 related symptoms such as headache, dizziness and cough. Nonetheless, they have not been allowed to test. From them, Reza Mazaheri has tested positive, but has been denied of any medical treatment.

Amid the nationwide 2019–2020 Iranian protests, Gholami was arrested and sentenced by Branch 24 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court to five years in prison on the charge of “assembly and collusion against the national security.”

In November of 2019, an unprecedented increase in fuel prices sparked a wave of protests in dozens of cities across the country. The spokesperson of the Parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Seyed Hossein Taghavi, announced that 7000 people were arrested during these protests. According to reports of human rights organizations, hundreds were killed by regime forces.

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Political Prisoner Soheila Hejab Hospitalized for COVID-19

On February 24, imprisoned political prisoner Soheila Hejab was hospitalized outside of prison due to her critical health condition.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Hejab, who is imprisoned in the women’s ward of the Correctional Center of Kermanshah City was dispatched to a hospital due to her critical health condition.

An informed source told HRANA that she fainted in a cell and her fellow inmates carried her to prison healthcare. Later, her fellow inmates were told that she has been hospitalized in a hospital outside the prison. The lack of info about her latest condition has increased her family’s concerns.

Recently, she has contracted COVID-19 along with 13 other inmates in her ward. Despite the requirement for treatment, prison healthcare had been closed due to absence of physicians.

Hejab was arrested by security forces on June 1, 2019, and then released from Evin Prison in Tehran on a bail of 3 billion tomans on March 14, 2020.

Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced her to 18 years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the regime”, “illegal assembly”, “incitement of public opinions to riot” and “organizing unlawful political groups”.

On May 23, 2020, the intelligence unit of the Revolutionary Guards arrested and transferred her to Gharchak Prison in Varamin City to serve her sentence. She was then transferred to Sanandaj Prison and then, on January 7, to the Correctional Center of Kermanshah City.

HRANA Recap: This Week’s Protests in Iran

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, a number of protests took place this week in Iran, many of which were continuations of ongoing movements.  Read our recap below for details, photos, and videos from the demonstrations.

Saturday, February 19

In response to a call by the Coordination Council of Iranian Teacher’s Trade Association, retired and working teachers and educators in dozens of cities across the country held protests before the Ministry of Education (and Parliament in Tehran). During these protests, at least 7 people were arrested. The teacher’s demands include the implementation of an already-enacted plan whereby teacher’s incomes will be increased depending on rank to up to 80% of the salaries of faculty members, official employment of teachers with temporary job contracts, fulfilling severance pay for the year, improving living conditions of contracted teachers, enforcing Article 30 of Iran’s Constitution, free education, improving the quality of education, paying student’s insurance and creating a limit of 16 students per class.

Along with teachers, a number of injured veterans of the Iran-Iraq War assembled before Parliament in Tehran to protest against poor living conditions.

A group of personnel of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare assembled before their office in Tehran to protest against a cut in some part of their benefits. More than one million tomans from their income has been reduced.

A group of the bus drivers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company gathered before the entrance of the bus terminal to protest against low wages and poor conditions of the vehicles. They rolled out an empty tablecloth on the sidewalk as a sign of their hard conditions and poor livelihoods.

A group of applicants who passed the Recruitment Exam of the Ministry of Education and are still waiting for recruitment held protests before the Ministry of Education in Tehran.

A number of retired workers of the Sugarcane Agro-Industry Company Haft-Tappeh held protests on company premises to ask for their demands.

Sunday, February 20

A number of the injured veterans of the Iran-Iraq War held protests before the Court of Administrative Justice in Tehran. They asked that their poor living conditions be addressed.

About 70 service workers working on Line 4 of the Tehran Metro assembled before the Tehran Metro Company building to protest against delays in payment. Reportedly, more than two months of their wages have not been paid.

Retirees and pensioners of the Social Security Organization assembled before the organization’s office of this organization in Bojnurd, Rasht and Arak cities and before the governorate building in Tabriz. Their demands include levelling up wages, addressing issues regarding supplementary insurance and improving their living conditions.

For the second consecutive day, workers of the Coal Mine Company Alborze-Sharghi Damghan assembled on mine premises. They asked to change their contracts with the company, chanting “the contractor [says] shame on you! Leave the complex!”

A group of retirees and pensioners of Fulad’s pension fund assembled before the fund’s office to ask for their demands.

A group of workers working as Parks and Gardens Maintenance for the municipality of Karaj gathered before the city council to ask for their demands.

A number of teachers who were dispatched to work abroad gathered before the Planning and Budget Organization in Tehran to ask for their delayed payments. According to one of these teachers, 1 to 25 thousand euros of their wages from 2005 to 2016 have not yet been paid.

A number of teachers in Kish City assembled before the Kish Free Zone Organization to ask for their demands, including the implementation of the Educator Ranking Plan.

Monday, February 21

A group of workers working in Green Maintenance Services for the Municipality of Kut Abdollah protested in front of the Governorate building in Ahvaz City. They asked for the payment of three months of delayed wages.

A group of locomotive drivers in Razavi Khorasan Province gathered with their families before the train station of Mashhad City to protest a lack of safety at work and technical supervising, and using out of date locomotives and other devices which increase workload and pressure on the workers.

A number of nurses and healthcare staff held protests before the Ministry of Health in Tehran.

The workers of the Coal Mine Company Alborze-Sharghi Damghan gathered before company offices in Shahroud City. They had held protests in recent days on coal mine premises. Workers said that so far none of the authorities have responded to their demands.

Dozens of personnel of the Gilan Telecommunication Company assembled before company headquarters in Rasht City. They protested against the conditions of their contracts, flaws in the implementation of the Job Classification Plan and supplementary insurance issues.

A group of municipal workers in Zone 3 of Khorramabad City assembled before the Lorestan governorate building. They asked for six months of delayed payments, benefits and employer insurance contribution.

Tuesday, February 22

In response to a call by the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, retired and working teachers and educators held protests in more than 76 cities across the country. These protests were held before Parliament in Tehran and the Ministry of Education in other cities. During these protests, several educators and teacher’s union activists were arrested.

Personnel of the Agricultural Insurance Fund held protests before the office of the fund in Tehran. One of the protestors said: “We are the personnel of an insurance company, but we ourselves are not insured. We are working under these poor living conditions for long years. The wages are unfairly low and managers determine the income arbitrarily.”

For the second consecutive day, a group of personnel of the Gilan Telecommunication Company assembled before the company headquarters in Rasht City to protest against the conditions of their contracts, flaws in the implementation of the Job Classification Plan and supplementary insurance issues.

In protest against a failure to respond to their demands, a group of locomotive drivers in Razavi Khorasan Province gathered before the train station of Mashhad City.

A number of firefighters protested before the municipality of Tehran. They said that despite having a hard job, they don’t earn enough to afford their livelihood.

A group of workers of the municipality of Yasuj City held protests before the governorate building of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province. One of the protestors said: “It is about five months that the municipality has not paid our wages. Also, we have not yet received the end of year bonuses and other benefits from last year. We filed a complaint to the Office of the Ministry of Labour and the municipality has been condemned to pay 15 million in compensation. Nonetheless, they refuse to pay it.”

A group of teachers who passed the Ministry of Education Recruitment Exam, yet have not been recruited by the Ministry, held protests before the Ministry building.

A group of personnel of Eat Azerbaijan Telecommunication Company went on strike and assembled before the company headquarters. They protested against delays in wages and bonuses.

Wednesday, February 24

A number of contracted teachers held protests before the Ministry of Education in Tehran by rolling out an empty tablecloth as a sign of their poor living conditions. These teachers said that in 2009, a plan was enacted by Parliament that allows the Ministry of Education to directly recruit contracted teachers who had passed some courses. However, due to a high number of contracted teachers, the Ministry was not able to recruit all 100,000 teachers. Therefore, teachers were divided into three groups to be recruited in three phases. These teachers claim that such prioritization was not based on merit. Those who were recommended and endorsed by acquaintances in the Ministry were being recruited, while the teachers in the third phase never got their contracts.

A group of workers who are working for state-owned enterprises gathered before Parliament in Tehran to protest against low wages and benefits. According to these protestors, a 10 percent increase in basic income, rather than the whole income, cannot catch up with ever-increasing living costs.

Workers of the Municipality of Rasht City assembled before the governorate building. They asked to increase wages and year-end bonuses.

A number of stakeholders of the Homa Pension Fund gathered before Parliament in Tehran to protest against an enacted bill whereby the fund is assigned to the Civil Servants Pension Organization.

A group of citizens who lost their money in a cryptocurrency network known as “King Money”, run by the Baadraan Gostaran Company, gathered before the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade in Mashhad and Tehran cities. They asked for the prosecution of this company for fraudulent acts.

For the second consecutive day, personnel of the East Azerbaijan Telecommunication Company held protests on company premises in Tabriz City. They protested against compulsory retirement and delays in payments.

A group of teachers who passed the Ministry of Education recruitment exam protested before the Ministry of Education. Despite promises, the Ministry has refused to recruit them.

Thursday, February 24

A group of contracted teachers gathered before Parliament. About 88,000 teachers work with temporary contracts. According to the law, they should have been recruited by mid-February.

A group of shareholders of the stock market held protests before Parliament to protest against the incompetence of parliament members and the government in economic management.

Workers of the Abadan Petrochemical Company went on strike in protest against unpaid wages.

Seven Behbahani Citizens Sentenced to a Total of Five Years and Six Months In Prison

The Revolutionary Court of Bandar Mahshahr issued prison sentences against seven Behbahani citizens who were arrested during the June 2020 protests in the city. Narges Deram-Gozin, Masoud Seddighnia, Ebrahim Armish, Morteza Vahdani, Zeynab Alipour, Vahb Ramin and Jalal Jafari have been sentenced to a total of 5 years and 6 months in prison. The conviction against Jafari has been suspended for 5 years.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the people mentioned above were notified of their sentence on February 19. Deram-Gozin, Seddighnia, Armish and Alipour were sentenced to 1 year on the charge of “propaganda against the regime”. Vahdani, Ramin, and Jafari were sentenced to six months for the same charge. Jafari’s conviction has been suspended for 5 years.

Earlier, in another legal case, Farzaneh Ansarifar, who was also indicted in this case, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison. Two others Behbahan citizens, Ali and Maryam Kazemi, have also been sentenced to a combined two years in prison.

On July 16, 2020, Behbahan’s citizens protested in Banke Melli Square in Behbahan against “poor economic conditions” and “death sentences against those who were arrested during the protest of November 2019”. Many people were arrested during the protests or thereafter at their homes.

During the protest of November 2019 in Behbahan city, security forces used live ammunition against protestors which led to the death of several protestors including Mehrdad Dashinia, Mahmood Dashtinia, Farzad Ansarifar, Mohammad-Hossein Ghanavati and Mohammad Hashamdar.

Baha’i Citizen Saba Sefidi Released from Evin Prison

On February 23, Baha’i citizen Saba Sefidi, a resident of Tehran, was released on temporary bail pending legal proceedings.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Sefidi was released on a bail of 1.5 billion tomans.

On January 11, she was arrested after an appearance at Branch 2 of Evin Courthouse in Tehran City. The reason for her arrest and the charges against her are still unknown.

Regarding the prosecution and the harassment of Baha’i people by Iran’s regime, HRA Senior Advocacy Coordinator Skylar Thompson stated that HRA strongly condemned these discriminatory acts against religious minorities in Iran. She asked that the regime take action to ensure Iranian people, and particularly Baha’i citizens, are entitled to the freedom of religion and can perform religious acts freely.

According to unofficial sources, it is estimated that more than 300,000 Baha’is live in Iran, but the Iranian constitution recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. Because their faith is not considered legitimate by authorities, the rights of Baha’is in Iran have been systematically violated for years.

The deprivation of the freedom to practice their religion is a breach of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The United Nations covenant holds that every person has the right to freedom of religion, freedom of converting religion, as well as freedom of expression, individually or collectively; openly or secretly.

Farzaneh Ansarifar Sentenced to 4 Years and 6 Months In Prison

Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Bandar Mahshahr sentenced Farzaneh Ansarifar to 4 years and 6 months in prison. Her brother, Farzad, was killed by regime forces during the 2019 nationwide protests in Behbahan City.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Ansarifar, a resident of Behbahan City, was convicted for “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the regime”. If the verdict is confirmed on appeal, three years and six months in prison on the charge of “assembly and collusion” will be enforced.

The court session was held on February 2 at Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Bandar Mahshahr.

In recent days, her brother and father, Arman and Amin Ansarifar were arrested by security forces.

On December 25, 2021, the first court session for another legal case against her and several others was held at Branch 103 of the Criminal Court of Behbahan city. The second court session was held on February 16, 2022.

During the protest of November 2019 in Behbahan City, security forces used live ammunition against protestors, leading to the death of several protestors including Mehrdad Dashinia, Mahmood Dashtinia, Farzad Ansarifar, Mohammad-Hossein Ghanavati and Mohammad Hashamdar.