Category: News

Journalist’s Death Attributed to Travel and Healthcare Restrictions

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Cultural, Freedom of Expression
Hamid Houshangi, iranian journalists, medical neglect, persecuted journalists

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – Hamid Houshangi, former journalist and director at the state-run news agency, IRNA, passed away Thursday, November 8th of cancer. He was 70.

At the time of his death, Houshangi was facing a two-year prison sentence. In a note published September 2nd of this year, Houshangi drew attention to a writ in which he was summoned to serve the sentence despite his diagnosis.

The cancer diagnosis came at about the same time as his prison sentence — ruled by Judge Moghiseh on October 2, 2016 — for charges of “propaganda against the regime” and “gathering and colluding against national security.” The sentence was upheld a few months later by Judge Zargar of Appeals Court Branch 36.

Referred throughout his cancer treatment to resources that could only be obtained abroad, Houshangi never broke free of a two-year stalemate with judicial authorities who refused to let him seek care outside Iran.

Houshangi started his journalism career with Iranian national radio and television in 1973.

Impromptu Exile Transfer Prompts Abdolreza Ghanbari to Hunger Strike

Posted on by Sara
Prisoners
Abdolreza Ghanbari, Evin Prison, Hunger Strike, hunger strike prisoner, prison hunger strike, prisoner hunger strike, prisoner hunger strike iran, Rajai Shahr Prison, Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, Rajai Shahr Prison of Karaj, Ward 8 of Evin Prison

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – Teacher and political prisoner Abdolreza Ghanbari, who on October 13th of this year was taken to Evin Prison’s Ward 8 to serve the remainder of a once-dormant sentence, has reportedly declared hunger strike following his November 10th transfer to the Quarantine Ward of Rajai Shahr Prison.

Confirming news of Ghanbari’s current hunger strike to HRANA, a close source added that his most recent sentence made no mention of an exile order.

Ghanbari’s judicial ordeal has been rife with major upsets, as previously reported by HRANA. After being arrested at the school where he taught in 2009 for backing the “Ashura” protests tailing that year’s contentious presidential elections, he was interrogated for two months and found himself facing a death sentence: Judge Salavati of Revolutionary Court Branch 15, convicting Ghanbari of “Moharebeh” [enmity against God]” through alleged ties to the opposition group People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), ruled to send him to the gallows.

Four suspenseful years later, the Supreme Court acquitted Ghanbari of the Moharebeh charge, effectively sparing his life. Branch 1 of Revolutionary Court settled his remaining charges with a 15-year prison sentence, which was later reduced to 10 years in appeals court.

After enduring more than 6 years of his 10-year prison term, he went free in the Spring of 2016 — only to be re-sentenced the following Fall to 15 years in prison, per reconsideration proceedings led by Judge Moghiseh in Branch 28 of Revolutionary Court.

Ghanbari is currently detained in Rajai Shahr.

Elderly Turkish Citizen Declares Hunger Strike in Urmia Prison

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Prisoners
Central Prison of Urmia, hatam erdoghlu, Hunger Strike, hunger strike prisoner, Prisoner abuse, prisoner hunger strike, prisoner hunger strike iran, Turkish prisoners, Urmia, Urmia Central Prison

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA)- Dejected at the Judiciary’s broken promise to return him to his native Turkey, ailing 70-year-old prisoner Hatam Ertoghlu declared hunger strike November 9th.

Currently held in Urmia’s Ward 4-3, Ertoghlu has been behind bars for the past nine years on drug-related charges. According to a close source, he has had multiple hospital admissions for various ailments, not least of which was a heart attack.

“Last year, per court order, he gave prison authorities 12 million tomans [approximately $2,800 USD] to cover the fees for his transfer back to Turkey,” a close source said. “Yet despite the consent of Turkish authorities, that transfer never took place.”

Undeterred by his physical distress, old age, and cardiac disease, Ertoghlu is now starving himself in protest.

Ertoghlu initially faced a sentence of life in prison, which was commuted to 24 years in 2017.

Furlough Granted to Bereaved Baha’i Prisoner Azita Rafizadeh

Posted on by Sara
Prisoners, Religious Minorities
Azita Rafizadeh, Baha'i, baha'i in iran, baha'is of iran, furlough release, imprisoned baha'is, Peyman Koushk Baghi

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Authorities have granted a November 7th to November 10th furlough period to Baha’i prisoner Azita Rafizadeh, who will attend memorial services for her father, Seyed Yadollah Rafizadeh, who recently died in a car accident.

Azita Rafizadeh is serving a four-year sentence for her Baha’i affiliations, including the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education, as well as a charge of acting against national security.

The furlough request of her spouse Peyman Koushk-Baghi, who is currently serving a five-year sentence on the same charges, was denied.

Former Civil Servant to Begin Prison Sentence

Posted on by Sara
Freedom of Expression, Prisoners
Feizollah Arabsorkhi, irgc

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Former political prisoner and ex-public official Feizollah Arabsorkhi has been summoned to begin his one-year prison sentence within the next five days.

Arabsorkhi was tried on charges of “propaganda against the regime” by Judge Ahmadzadeh in August of 2015 and issued a two-year ban on civic activities in addition to his one-year prison term.

Arabsorkhi has speculated that the charges are a vindictive move from the Intelligence Unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in response to his signature on a letter once published from prison.

In protest of the highly-contested Iranian presidential election of 2009, Arabsorkhi co-authored a letter with a number of political activists, interpreting a speech by security-judiciary agent Commander Moshfegh as evidence of corruption both before and after the ballots had been cast. Later arrested by the IRGC, he was convicted in Revolutionary Court Branch 15 of “propaganda against the regime” and “assembling and colluding against national security” in July of that year. He was released from Evin Prison in 2013 after completing his sentence.

Born September 23, 1958, Arabsorkhi holds a bachelor’s degree in social communications and membership in the reformist political group Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution. He has served both on the cabinet of Mir-Hossein Mousavi as general manager of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance security office, and in the Khatami administration [1997 – 2005] as deputy trade minister for the Ministry of Commerce.

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Zanjan Revolutionary Court Acquits Civil Rights Activist Safiyeh Gharebaghi

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Freedom of Expression, Women
civil rights activists in iran, Safiyeh Gharebaghi, women's rights activists in iran, zanjan

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – “I was acquitted!” wrote Safiyeh Gharebaghi, a Zanjan-based civil rights activist, on November 6th. That day, Judge Siyadi of Zanjan Revolutionary Court Branch 1 acquitted her of all charges, namely propaganda against the regime and gathering and conspiring against national security.

Quoting an excerpt of the court’s ruling, Gharebaghi said the verdict legitimized her right to dissent under Iranian law:

“‘[…]This court, considering the criticism of certain laws and procedures, even legal judgments, to be the incontrovertible right of every individual and legal entity, and considering that the crime’s spiritual basis was devoid of criminal intent, rejects the defendant’s charges and hereby announces its ruling to acquit.”

No verdict has yet been issued on Gharebaghi’s separate case in Zanjan General Court, where she faces charges of spreading lies and disrupting the public mind.

Gharebaghi was initially detained by the Zanjan Intelligence Office in 2017 on charges of propaganda against the regime in cyberspace, abetting sedition, and spreading lies. Her cited infractions included protesting gender inequality, voicing support of political prisoners and the sedition movement, and signing a condolence letter for the late father of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

Kurdistan Court Condemns Juvenile Offender with History of Mental Illness

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Children, Prisoners
child executions, Death Penalty, iran executions, iran human rights, juvenile offender iran, Shayan Saeedpour, UN convention on the rights of the child

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- Sanandaj prisoner Shayan Saeedpour, now 20, has been sentenced to death by Judge Vafayian in Branch 1 of Kurdistan Criminal Court for a murder he committed at age 17, at a time that he may have been under monitoring for a psychiatric condition.

A member of Saeedpour’s family told HRANA that the young man stands accused of murdering Soleyman Azadi in a scuffle on August 16, 2015, just two months shy of his 18th birthday. “Saeedpour said he was acting under the influence of bootleg alcohol and wasn’t in his right mind,” the source said.

Saeedpour turned himself over to police two days after the incident, accompanied by his father.

An appeals request submitted by Saeedpour’s lawyer is currently under review. “[…]Despite evidence and witness testimony, the coroner’s office has left the judiciary to determine whether or not he was intoxicated,” the attorney said. “…[He] was under the influence of alcohol and two witnesses have testified to the veracity of this claim.”

The attorney added that Saeedpour didn’t know the victim prior to the incident.

Saeedpour’s loved ones say he has a history of inflicting self-harm, impulse control disorder, and — since 2014 — consistent psychiatric oversight. According to his family, Saeedpour betrayed no indication of grasping what had transpired after Azadi was killed. The coroner’s office disagreed: as relayed by Saeedpour’s lawyer, they ruled he had “the mental maturity and capacity to distinguish right from wrong and to discern whether his action was criminal.”

Seeking a second opinion, the case investigator sent the case to the Kermanshah coroner, who concurred with the initial evaluation.

In addition to the death penalty, Saeedpour was sentenced to 80 lashes for drinking.

A close source shared with HRANA that Saeedpour was once a member of a traditional Iranian gym. Previously the bodybuilding champion in his province, he once placed third in a national tournament.

The punishment of children — particularly death sentences for minors caught up in skirmishes, crimes of passion, or the drug trade — remains one of the premier human rights battles in Iran.

Iran has been a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child for the past 25 years. Article 37 of the Convention reads, “Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age”. In 2017, at least four juvenile offenders were executed in Iran after their 18th birthday. Since the beginning of 2018, multiple child offenders have been executed or sentenced to death.

Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen are among the few countries where offenders can be executed for crimes they committed as minors. In response to one of these executions in February of 2018, Human Rights Watch issued a statement urging Iranian authorities to “ …]immediately and unconditionally end the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by children under age 18, and move toward a complete ban on capital punishment.”

Khuzestan : Ten Detainees Identified, Four Released

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Ethnic Minorities
Abdullah Childawi, Adil Mashali, ahvaz, ahvaz parade attack, Ahwaz, Ahwaz Parade Attack, ahwazi arab, Ameneh Zaheri Sari, Amin Zaheri Sari, Hotab Zaheri Sari, Karim Saedi, Khuzestan, mass arrests in iran, mass arrests iran, Mohammad Hazbawi, Morteza Sharhani, Qaysiyya Afrawi, Sadegh Lazemi, Saeed Mohammad Saidawi, Sajjad Saylawi, Saleh Tamuli Torfi, Zawdiyya Afrawi

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – Pursuant to the September 22nd armed attack on a military parade in Ahvaz, hundreds of Khuzestani Arabs in Ahvaz, Susangerd, and Hamidiyeh were taken by security officers to undisclosed locations. After recently identifying 179 of these detainees, HRANA has learned the names of ten more, along with the identities of four who have been released pending court proceedings.

The ten recently-identified detainees, still in custody, are below:

1. Karim Saedi, 31, married with two children, Hamidiyeh resident, arrested on November 3, 2018
2. Adil Mashali, 30, married with two children, Hamidiyeh resident, arrested on November 3, 2018
3. Mohammad Hazbawi, son of Mahdi, married, Ahvaz resident
4. Sadegh Lazemi (Jalali), 32, married with two daughters, Susangerd resident
5. Morteza Sharhani, 28, resident of Alavi neighborhood of Ahvaz, arrested November 4, 2018
6. Amin Zaheri Sari, 22, resident of Alavi neighborhood of Ahvaz, arrested November 5, 2018
7. Hotab Zaheri Sari, 57, resident of Alavi neighborhood of Ahvaz, arrested November 5, 2018
8. Ameneh Zaheri Sari, 24, graduate of the accounting program at Azad University of Ahvaz, resident of Alavi neighborhood of Ahvaz, arrested November 6, 2018
9. Saleh Tamuli Torfi (Munabi), resident of Alavi neighborhood of Ahvaz, arrested November 6, 2018
10. Abdullah Childawi, resident of Alavi neighborhood of Ahvaz, arrested November 6, 2018
Hotab Zaheri Sari is reportedly in need of medical treatment for gastrointestinal and disc diseases. As of the date of this report, no further information is available on their whereabouts or well-being.
Over the past few days, local sources reported the bail release of jailed Ahvaz residents Saeed Mohammad Saidawi, Sajjad Saylawi, Zawdiyya Afrawi, and Qaysiyya Afrawi. The four await further notification from Ahvaz Revolutionary Court.

Identity of Leila Tajik’s co-Defendant Confirmed

Posted on by Sara
Prisoners
death penality in iran, Death Penalty, death row prisoners, iran death penalty, Leila Tajik, prisoners in iran tortured, Seyed Jamal Hajizavar, torture

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- HRANA has identified Leila Tajik’s co-defendant and former spouse — sentenced to death on espionage charges, per a HRANA report dated October 11, 2018 — as Seyed Jamal Hajizavar, 47, a former staff member on the IRGC Aerospace Force.

In the same report, HRANA reported on Tajik’s sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment in exile for the same charges, ruled in Branch 4 of Tehran Military Court.

Pursuant to a joint case opened up against the two by the IRGC intelligence unit, the former couple was arrested September 5, 2017, and held in an IGRC outpost. Tajik was later transferred to the Evin Prison Women’s Ward on March 19, 2018.

Over the course of his 14-month detainment, reports of Hajizavar’s violent torture — including de-nailing and electric shock in so-called “death cells”– have been conspicuously absent from the state-run news media.

An informed source previously told HRANA, “their children, Sabah, 16, and Sahand, 19, are hurting over the breakup of their family, and are feeling additional pressures from IRGC agents.”

Evin Prison Women’s Ward Denies Medical Care to Baha’i Negin Ghadamian

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Prisoners, Women
Baha'i, baha'i arrests iran, baha'i in iran, Evin Prison, medical neglect, negin ghadamian, Negin Ghademian, Prisoner abuse, Women's Ward of Evin Prison

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- Despite the blessing of Prosecution Assistant Rostami, Baha’i prisoner Negin Ghadamian is being denied extra-prison dental care for a severe gum infection, jaw pain, and toothache.

Prison authorities, including clinic head Agha Khani, have opposed Ghadamian’s medical transfer, insisting her treatment take place inside the prison.

The swelling population of the Women’s Ward places prisoners in increased medical precarity, as authorities — apparently arbitrarily — have barred external medical transfers almost entirely. An informed source told HRANA that prison dentistry relies on limited equipment, delivers mediocre care, and sticks patients with steep fees.

HRANA published a report on September 30th detailing the living conditions in the Women’s Ward at Evin. “Evin Prison dentistry operates in less-than-sterile conditions and exposes patients to remarkably high risk for infections,” the report reads. “Cavity fillings are expensive there, putting patients out as much as 20 million rials (approximately $114 USD) or preventing them, for lack of means, from getting the fillings they need.”

Security agents first arrested Ghadamian on May 24, 2011, after which she went free on 50 million tomans [approximately $12,000 USD] bail. In March 2012, she was sentenced in absentia by Judge Moghiseh on charges of “acting against national security through membership in the illegal Baha’i organization.” She was arrested at the airport on December 17, 2017, to serve her sentence.