Category: News

Reporter Vahid Ahang Released on Bail

Posted on by Sara
Freedom of Expression
Freedom of press, imprisoned journalists, iranian journalists, jailed journalists, persecuted journalists, Vahid Ahang

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – Vahid Ahang, a reporter jailed pursuant to a complaint filed by the Dishmok municipality, has been released after posting a bail of 50 million tomans [approximately $3,000 USD].

An informed source told HRANA that Ahang was arrested on October 31st and interrogated the same day from eight in the morning until noon. Judge Javad Parhizgar and his secretary were reportedly hostile towards him, refusing to accept Ahang’s bail even after the Dishmok mayor and county governor came forward to withdraw the complaint. Parhizgar was reportedly worn down by several follow-ups from Ahang’s family, the source said.

Ahang’s byline precedes previous reports of mistreatment from visitors to Judge Parhizgar’s office.

Women’s Rights Activist Najmeh Vahedi Released On Bail

Posted on by admin-hr
Freedom of Expression, Women
Hoda Amid, najmeh vahedi, Women, women political prisoners, women political prisoners in iran, women's rights activists in iran, women's rights in iran

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- On November 6, 2018, women’s rights activist and sociology graduate Najmeh Vahedi, who was arrested in her home by security forces on September 1st, was released on bail pending trial.

Vahedi was one of many snared in the judiciary’s recently-revived sanctions on women’s rights activists. With her comrade Hoda Amid, Vahedi had reportedly held educational training workshops for women inquiring about their rights in marriage contracts.

Human Rights Watch issued a statement on September 5th of this year asking Iranian authorities to stop the repression of human rights defenders like Amid and Vahedi and to immediately release those who are in custody for peaceful expressions of dissent. Later that month, 750 civil rights activists inside and outside Iran issued a statement condemning the persecution of women’s rights defenders, demanding their immediate and unconditional release.

Last week, the voice of Amnesty International joined the outcry against the civil crackdowns, demanding that affected prisoners be immediately released and that defendants not be limited to a list of regime-designated attorneys.

Urmia Authorities Turn Deaf Ear to Prisoner Fighting Infection

Posted on by Sara
Prisoners
medical neglect, Prisoner abuse, Sadroldin Teymourpour, Urmia prison

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- “What do you need an ear for?”, the Urmia Prison director said to Sadroldin Teymourpour, a prisoner complaining of an ear infection secondary to an assault by security agents.

Needless to say, Teymourpour’s request to be transferred to a hospital was not taken seriously.

Initially sentenced to death, Teymourpour is currently serving a commuted sentence of 30 years plus a 200-million toman [approximately $13,500 USD] fine.

Forcing ailing prisoners to make do with the short-staffed, underequipped prison clinic has led to multiple prisoner deaths. HRANA reported on a number of these fatal neglect cases in September 2018.

Hashem Khastar’s Supporters Released from Custody

Posted on by admin-hr
Freedom of Expression, Labor and Guilds
Ahmad Khastar, freedom of assembly, Hadi Lotfinia, Hashem Khastar, Ibn Sina Hospital, imprisoned teachers, Jahed Khastar, Mohammad Yazdi, Sadigeh Maleki Fard, Teachers' Demonstrations

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – Twelve individuals demonstrating their support of Hashem Khastar outside Ibn Sina Hospital in Mashhad were reportedly released a few hours after being taken into custody on Monday, November 5th, a close source said.

By arresting the demonstrators, intelligence agents were intercepting their protest of an increasingly curious hostage situation: Iranian authorities have kept Khastar cloistered in the hospital’s psychiatric ward since arresting him for unknown reasons on October 23rd.

Khastar’s detention caused a stir among his family members and fellow activists, eventually inspiring a social-media call for his supporters to gather outside Ibn Sina.

After arresting the 12 would-be protestors, a close source told HRANA, intelligence agents attempted to get their signatures on a set of legal documents, which they refused. “The intelligence officers then negotiated with Mr. Khastar’s wife,” the source continued. “Finally, promising that Mr. Khastar’s situation would be clarified within the next 24 hours, they released all 12 [of them].”

Khastar’s spouse Sadigeh Maleki Fard, his children Jahed and Ahmad Khastar, and his fellow teachers Hadi Lotfinia and Mohammad Yazdi were among those detained.

It has now been 14 days since the IRGC snatched the retired teacher and union activist from his home, sending him by ambulance into psychiatric “care” despite his clean bill of mental health. A source previously pointed HRANA to the circumstances of his arrest: “…His unlocked car and all its contents were abandoned in front of the gate to his orchard.”

A recent arrest during silent teacher protests on June 21, 2018, landed Khastar, 65, in a Security Police detention center on Abbas Abad (formerly Vozara) street. In 2009, he was arrested in connection to widespread protests following that year’s Iranian presidential elections and was fined by Iranian courts for two letters he wrote from Vakilabad Prison. He was released, then arrested again later for refusing to pay the fine.

Authorities Quash Show of Support for Sequestered Teacher Hashem Khastar

Posted on by admin-hr
Freedom of Expression, Labor and Guilds
freedom of assembly, Hashem Khastar, imprisoned teachers, Mashhad, teacher strikes, teacher union, Teachers' Demonstrations

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- The wife, children, and colleagues of teachers’ union activist Hashem Khastar, 65, who was forcibly hospitalized on October 23, 2018, in Mashhad, were detained by agents of the Intelligence Ministry on Monday, November 5th.

More than 10 of Khastar’s supporters were arrested while convening in front of Ebn-Sina hospital, where Khastar remains detained in the psychiatric ward despite having no history of mental illness. They have been transferred to the Intelligence Bureau of Mashhad.

HRANA has thus far been able to confirm the identities of five arrestees: Sadigheh Maleki Fard (Khastar’s wife), Jahed Khastar and Ahmad Khastar (Khastar’s sons), and colleagues “Mr. Lotfinia” and “Mr. Yazdi.”

According to a close source, authorities were quick to head off their show of solidarity. “Security agents were already present at the hospital prior to the protesters’ arrival and had blocked the roads leading up to it. Khastar’s family were arrested as soon as they arrived. Several other individuals — teachers and colleagues of Mr. Khastar — were arrested throughout the day until 5:30 PM.”

Arrestees were reportedly booked at the police station before being handed over to Ministry of Intelligence custody.

Mashhad is the capital of Razavi Khorasan province, located in Iran’s northeast.

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Municipal Grievance Lands Urban Reporter Vahid Ahang in Prison

Posted on by Sara
Freedom of Expression
Dehdasht, Detained journalist, Imprisoned journalist, iranian journalists, jailed journalists, Vahid Ahang

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- Pursuant to a complaint lodged by the Municipality of Dishmok, city-life beat reporter Vahid Ahang was arrested on October 31, 2018, by security agents and transferred to Dehdasht prison.

Ahang reportedly covers municipal business from a critical angle. According to an informed source, his recent arrest has roots in an accusation leveled against him back in 2013 of insulting, slandering, and threatening municipal workers.

Cases involving alleged defamation by reporters are typically processed in Media Court before being transferred to a local court with appropriate jurisdiction. It is not yet clear why Ahang’s case was expedited directly to Dishmok Court.

Dishmok and Dehdasht are counties in the southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.

Poet and Political Activist Mostafa Badkoobeyi Released Pending Trial

Posted on by admin-hr
Cultural, Freedom of Expression
freedom of expression, Freedom of Speech, imprisoned writers, Mostafa Badkoobeyi

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – After spending two days in prison, poet and former political prisoner Mostafa Badkoobeyi was conditionally released pending trial.

Badkoobeyi was arrested November 5th after being summoned to Branch 3 of the Evin Prison Prosecutor’s office for interrogation. Earlier, on October 27th, he was given five days’ notice to present himself there, under threat of arrest for failure to appear.

His writ indicated no reason for the summons, a source close to Badkoobeyi told HRANA. His family’s inquiries have thus far been unsuccessful in extracting an explanation from authorities.

Following the highly-disputed 2009 Iranian presidential elections, Badkoobeyi’s poetry, critical of former president Mahmood Ahmadinejad, led to his arrest and an 18-month prison sentence. He went to Evin Prison on November 21, 2012, where he spent less than a year before being released.

Journalist Masoud Kazemi Arrested

Posted on by Sara
Freedom of Expression
Detained journalist, freedom of expression, Freedom of press, Freedom of Speech, Imprisoned journalist, imprisoned journalists, Masoud Kazemi

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – On the morning of November 5th, Masoud Kazemi, journalist and editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine “Sedaye Parsi,” was arrested in his home by security forces and transferred to an undisclosed location.

Upon inspecting his home at the time of the arrest, agents confiscated some of Kazemi’s personal belongings, including laptops, hard drives, and USB drives.

Close source Shima Tadrisi confirmed the news of Kazemi’s arrest in a short note, writing, “His neighbors said that some people entered his home and then took Masoud away with them.” It was not clear to the neighbors which agency had sent them, she said.

Kazemi tweeted the day before his arrest about corruption in the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade. As of the date of this report, no further information was available on his location or the reasons behind his arrest.

Prisoner Executed in Yazd

Posted on by admin-hr
Executions
Ardakan prison, Death Penalty, death penalty in iran, Execution, iran death penalty, Sami Mohtarami, Yazd

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Prisoner Sami Mohtarami, 43, was executed in Ardakan Prison on the morning of Saturday, November 3, 2018.

An informed source confirmed the news of his death to HRANA. “The victim’s family had agreed to absolve him if he could pay the blood money, but he wasn’t able to,” the source said. “He was transferred to solitary confinement on Thursday, November 1, 2018, two nights before his execution.”

Convicted of murdering someone while stealing a car, Mohtarami had been detained in Ardakan Prison since 2015. He previously served a five-year sentence in Ardakan on drug-related charges.

According to Amnesty International’s annual report, Iran ranks first in the world in executions per capita. On the World Day against the Death Penalty (October 10th), the Center of Statistics at Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) published its annual report, indicating that at least 256 citizens were executed in Iran between October 10, 2017, and October 9, 2018, 15 of which were public hangings. Sixty-eight percent of executions, referred to as “secret executions,” are not announced by the state or Judiciary.

Ardakan is located in the central district of Ardakan County, Yazd Province.

Update on Arrested Shirazi Baha’is

Posted on by Sara
Religious Minorities
Baha'i, baha'i arrests iran, baha'i in iran, baha'is in iran, Bahareh Ghaderi, Ehsan Mahboob Rahvafa, Elaheh Samizadeh, Niloufar Hakimi, Noora Pourmoradian, Nora Pourmoradian, Noura Pourmoradian, Shiraz, Soudabeh Haghighat

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – Baha’i citizen Bahareh Ghaderi, who was arrested September 15th, was released Saturday, November 3rd on a bail of 200 million tomans [approximately $13,500 USD] pending completion of her investigation.

On October 18th, Niloufar Hakimi and Ehsan Mahboob Rahvafa also went free on bail. Their fellow Baha’is Nora Pourmoradian, Soudabeh Haghighat, and Elaheh Samizadeh were released October 10th.

Two Baha’i prisoners remain in the custody of Shiraz Intelligence Ministry detention center No. 100.

Shiraz, the capital of Fars province located 425 miles south of Tehran, is the birthplace of Ba’b, who formulated the Baha’i religion there in the 19th century. It is home to one of the largest Baha’i communities in Iran.

Iranian Baha’i citizens are systematically deprived of religious freedoms, while according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone is entitled to freedom of religion and belief, and the right to adopt and manifest the religion of their choice, be it individually, in groups, in public, or in private.

Based on unofficial sources, more than 300,000 Baha’is live in Iran. Iran’s constitution, however, recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not acknowledge the Baha’i faith as an official religion. Consequently, the rights of Baha’is are systematically violated in Iran.