Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Unable to post his bail amount of 150 million tomans (approximately $36,000 USD), Kermanshah resident Shahriar Tahmasbi has been behind bars since security forces detained him on July 5th.
An informed source told HRANA that Tahmasbi’s bail was too heavy for him to post. “He has not yet been able to procure that much money. He requested that the bail is lowered, but no decisions have been made so far in that regard.”
Tahmasbi was arrested along with Mostafa Bagheri Ashena and Ardeshir Musavi, whose bails were also set at $36,000 apiece. While both were able to afford it and have now gone free, HRANA’s source stated that the bail amount was far out of proportion with the severity of the charges they face.
Earlier, another source provided background into the evening Tahmasbi was arrested, stating that a group of about 8 people had gathered in the Kermanshah residence of Ali Nazari on Jalili street to discuss the formation of a literary society for speakers, learners, and enthusiasts of a minority dialect called Laki.
“Security forces entered the house proclaiming that Shahriyar Tahmasbi was a fugitive, and arrested him along with Ardeshir Musavi,” the source said. “They also seized the cellphones of six people in attendance, including the host.”
Tahmasbi was also detained on September 6th of last year for organizing a protest in support of border couriers known as Kulbars. Walking out of Kermanshah’s Dizelabad Prison one month later on October 10, 2017, cost him $24,000 (100 million Tomans) in bail money.
HRANA has previously reported on the relatively higher rates of detention of Iranian citizens near the western border.
Category: News
Shirazi Baha’i Arrestee Released on Bail
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – After 37 days in the Intelligence Ministry’s detention center, Baha’i Shiraz resident Kourosh Rouhani was released Monday, September 24th on 1 billion rials (approximately $6000 USD) bail, and now awaits trial. As of the date of this report, no further information is available on his charges or the reasons behind his arrest.
According to HRANA reports, Rouhani was among a group of six Baha’is arrested August 18th by security forces in Shiraz: Pezhman Shahriari, Dorna Esmaili, Hooman Esmaili, Negar Misaghian, and Mahboob Habibi.
Notably, Negar Misaghian, Dorna Esmaili, and Hossman Esmaili were released within hours of their arrest, while Rouhani, Shahriari, and Habibi were transferred to the Intelligence Ministry’s detention center in Shiraz.
Shiraz has seen a notable increase in the arrests of Baha’i citizens this month, including the arrest and detention of Noora Pourmoradian, Elaheh Samizadeh, Ehsan Mahboob Rahvafa, Navid Bazmandegan, and his spouse Bahareh Ghaderi on September 15th and 16th. [2]
Baha’i citizens of Iran 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, all people are entitled to freedom of religion, belief, and changes thereof, as well as the right to express and practice those beliefs as individuals or collectives, in public or in private.
Though unofficial sources estimate the Baha’i population of Iran at more than 300,000, Iran’s Constitution officially recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not acknowledge the Baha’i faith as an official religion. As a result, the rights of Baha’is in Iran are systematically violated.
Authorities Continue Pursuit of Baha’i Citizens in Isfahan Province
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – On Sunday, September 23rd, Saham Armin became the eighth Baha’i citizen to be detained by Ministry of Intelligence forces after having his home searched in Baharestan, a city 12 miles southeast of Isfahan on the route to Shiraz.
HRANA previously reported on the arrest of Afshin Bolbolan, Anoosh Rayeneh, Milad Davardan, Farhang Sahba, Bahareh Zeini (Sobhanian), Sepideh Rohani, and Fojan Rashidi by security forces in the same city [1]. As of the date of this report, no further information was available on their location or the reasons behind their arrest.
A close source to the group previously confirmed to HRANA that Bolbolan’s books, laptop, tablet, and mobile phone were seized by authorities during a search of his home.
In recent weeks, members of the Baha’i religious minority have faced increased pressure from Iranian security and judiciary establishments all over Iran, resulting in several arrests on specious grounds. In the last month, HRANA published reports on the arrests of Baha’i residents of Shiraz and Karaj who were swept up in this trend: Maryam Ghaffarmanesh, Jamileh Pakrou (Mohammad Hossein), Kianoush Salmanzadeh, and Peyman Manavi were arrested and transferred to Evin Prison from Karaj on September 16, 2018. Shiraz security forces arrested Soudabeh Haghighat, Noora Pourmoradian, Elaheh Samizadeh, Ehsan Mahboob Rahvafa, Navid Bazmandegan, and his wife Bahareh Ghaderi on September 15th and 16th.
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. However, Iran’s Constitution only recognizes 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.
Former IRGC Member Faces Death Penalty on Spying Charges
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Confirming the sentence issued two months ago in Branch 1 of the Military Court of Urmia, the Supreme Court has issued an execution sentence to former IRGC member Arsalan Khodkam, who was charged with “collaborating with an anti-regime party through espionage,” allegedly on behalf of a Kurdish opposition party.
The Supreme Court delivered the execution order to Khodkam’s attorney on September 25, 2018, a close source told HRANA.
Khodkam was detained in April of this year by the Intelligence Office of IRGC and is currently imprisoned at Ward 3-4 of Urmia Prison. He alleged that his interrogators subjected him to torture.
Earlier, an informed source reported on Khodkam’s background to HRANA. The married, 50-year-old resident of Mahabad was formerly a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), which eventually “surrendered to the forces of the Islamic Republic.” Later, in the 2000s, he switched allegiance by joining the IRGC, which he served for 16 years before being accused of spying on behalf of the KDP.
Northeastern Border Guard Opens Fire on Shepherd
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- As he had done for the past 20 years, Hamidreza Sepahi Layin was taking his sheep to graze from the border town of Dargaz, Razavi Khorasan province on September 19th, 2018. As Hamid’s brother Alireza explains, shepherds like Hamidreza often usher their herds across the plains and mountain grasses carpeting Iran’s northeastern borderlands with Turkmenistan. What happened next, however, was a break in routine.
That day, Layin, a 32-year-old father of two, had herded his flock about half of a mile into Turkmenistan territory when he caught sight of Majid Amiri, the head of the Sangdivar border guard post. Layin was familiar with the guard, and while crossing back to the Iranian side made his way over to greet him. When he was about 10 yards away from being able to reach out and give him a handshake, Amiri pulled out a gun and opened fire on Layin’s leg.
A friend and fellow shepherd had accompanied Layin that morning and procured a donkey to rush his wounded friend to the village clinic. As Layin slipped out of consciousness, profusely losing blood from two bullet wounds, Amiri blocked their passage for a full 40 minutes until Layin’s friend told him to either pull the gun on him, too, or let them go. Amiri let them pass.
Amiri’s plans to blame Turkmens for the shooting were upended by a Turkmen cohort who witnessed the incident from afar and reported it to authorities before him. Layin has undergone an operation to repair his bullet-shattered bone with metal plates.
Alireza Sepahi Layi, who is an author and journalist, wrote a note about his brother’s ordeal entitled “one bird with two stones,” excerpts of which have been translated into English by HRANA:
“We do have borders, in drought and abundance, war and peace, mourning and joy, solitude and company. For the past 500 years, we have used our bodies as shields, holding our ground, digging in our heels. With blood, sweat and tears, we quenched the thirst of our herds and irrigated our paddies and wheat fields. All of this to make sure that Russians, Uzbeks, and Turkmens don’t open their eyes one morning to find border villages like Sandiqal and Layin abandoned by Iranians; lest they believe those brave sentinels have tired of their duties and fled. I went to Dargaz today. No, I had not been summoned to court– not this time. I’ve come many a time for trials or for prison to my hometown of Kalat-e Naderi. This time my destination was Dargaz, and my reason was to visit my brother who had been shot; a bird, shot with two stones. A man to whom fighting and brawls are unknown, who has never raised his shepherd’s crook, even to an ant. Thank God the bullets had the decency to strike only his shin. While they shattered his leg, they, fortunately, spared his life. The shooting took place during the Muharram ceremonies, on the eve of the anniversary of *Hussein’s death; and just as it was back then between Hussein and Yazid, a line in blood was drawn between the forces of good and evil. Javad Amiri, the head of Sangdivar border guard, pulled the trigger. He had just finished his officer training. He was probably sent for shooting practice to the border post, where the people have been defenseless for centuries, wielding only crooks of shepherding, shovels of gardening, and sickles of harvest. They have spread their generosity, kindness, and hospitality from **Hezarmasjed to ***Alborz and ****Zagros mountains…”
<b> * </b> The third Shiite saint and Imam whose death in battle in the 7th century AD is a watershed moment in Shiite history commemorated each year in widespread rituals. Hussein represents the force of Good while the ruler he was fighting against, Yazid, symbolizes Evil.
<b> ** </b> Mountain range in northeastern Iran
<b> *** </b> Mountain range in Northern Iran
<b> **** </b> Mountain range in Western Iran
Six Education Rights Activists Get Suspended Sentences for May 10th Gathering
Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) –
Six people arrested in a teachers’ demonstration on May 10th have been issued a suspended sentence of nine months imprisonment and 74 lashings, or the equivalent financial penalty, on charges of “disrupting public order by taking part in illegal gatherings” and “disobeying authorities serving their duty.” Their trial took place in Branch 1060 of the Second Criminal Court of Government Employees on September 5th.
HRANA has identified the arrestees as Ali Eghdamdoost, a member of the retirees’ union; Rasoul Badaghi, a previous officer of Tehran’s Teachers Trade Union; Esmayil Gerami, Javaad Zolnoori, Hossein Gholami, and Mohammad Abedi.
All six took part in a May 10th gathering of teachers and retirees advocating in front of Iran’s Planning and Budgeting Organization against the privatization of the country’s education system, and for wages that would hoist them above the poverty line. Police attacks on the demonstrators led to injuries, hospitalizations, and eight arrests.
Arrestees were held in a security police detention house on Vozara street before being transported to Base Seven of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) a few days later. They were finally taken in shackles and handcuffs to Evin prison, where they eventually accepted to post a bail of 500 million rials (approximately 12,000 USD) to await their trial.
Teachers’ union activist Mohammad Habibi, currently housed in Section 4 of Evin Prison, is a defendant on the same case. He was sentenced July 23rd to 10 years and six months in prison, 74 lashings, and a two-year ban on both civic activities and travel.
At trial, a judge offered freedom to the May 10th activists in exchange for their pledge to cease future involvement with labor activism. In defense of their right to stage and participate in peaceful gatherings, all reportedly refused.
Authorities Flip-Flop as Truck Driver Strike Wages on
Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – A strike that started September 21st in the Iranian trucking industry continued for its fourth consecutive day, causing long delays at gas stations and spikes in the price of produce that drivers refuse to mitigate until authorities take action to resolve their complaints.
Stalling commercial transport across several Iranian cities–including Tehran, Arak, Sari, Qazvin, Asadie, Bandar Imam Khomeini, Khomeyn, Isfahan, Varzaneh, Shahr-e Kord, Abhar, Kermanshah, Darab, Ardabil, Shahr-e Babak, Ziabad, Shiraz, Zanjan, and Kazerun–striking drivers are heeding the call of the national truck-driver’s trade union to cease their operations until authorities concede to increase truck driver pensions, reduce the price of truck parts, increase driver wages by 70 percent, lower insurance premiums, and crack down on corruption in the industry.
Fuel stations short on truck-supplied petrol are struggling to serve the long lines of customers forming at the pump as the strike wears on. Meanwhile, potato and tomato prices have reportedly increased in certain localities.
This is reportedly the third coordinated truck drivers’ strike to occur in the span of a few months. The first two each lasted ten days, beginning, ending, and resuming when authorities failed, promised, and failed again to make good on their verbal engagements.
Hassan Nasiri, head of a truck-owners’ co-op in Jooybar, said that the biggest frustration hindering truck drivers was the inadequate provision of truck tires and parts, adding that the quantity of parts supplied by the Industry Ministry to the truck-owners’ union has not been sufficient in meeting the demand.
In an interview with the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), head of the Alborz province truck-owners union Naser Kaviani said he was hopeful that their principle issues, such as the shortage of motor oil and parts, could be resolved with a reduction of market prices.
In a meeting with authorities including the Isfahan provincial governor, head of the national truck-owners union Ahmad Karimi, who is also from Isfahan province, said he was promised the provision of the sorely needed parts. According to Daryoosh Amadi, deputy head of the Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, or IRMTO, a subsidiary of the Roads and Urban Planning Ministry, the Industry Ministry refuses to fulfill drivers’ demands for tires.
Prisoner executed in Tonekabon on Murder Charges
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – A prisoner convicted of murder was executed in Iran’s northern city of Tonekabon on September 25th. On the eve of his execution, the Iranian authorities transferred him to solitary confinement per protocol for prisoners whose execution is imminent.
Majid Pili, 41, was from the northern city of Ramsar and had spent three years in Tonekabon Prison.
According to a credible source, Pili was convicted of murdering Majid Zabihi. Zabihi’s wife, Zahra Ghorbanpoor, was also arrested for the crime. The judge convicted Pili of murder and Ghorbanpoor of accessory to murder for which she was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Iran’s Supreme Court confirmed Pili’s death sentence earlier this year.
According to registered data from 2,945 reports by the Statistics, Publications, and Achievements Division of HRAI, in the past year (from March 21, 2017, to March 18, 2018) at least 322 citizens were executed and 236 others were sentenced to death in Iran. Among these were the execution of four juvenile offenders and 23 public hangings.
Young Urmia Prisoner Suffers TBI in Beating from Prison Warden
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- After a beating from internal prison director Bayramzadeh left him with a concussion, Javad Shirzad (a.k.a Arash), a prisoner in Urmia Central Prison’s youth ward, was transferred to an outside hospital for treatment.
An informed source told HRANA that Shirzad, who is in the fifth year of his sentence, went to another prisoner’s cell to say hi when Bayramzadeh began assaulting him.
According to the source, Shirzad was transferred on September 11th to an outside care facility where a battery of tests including an electroencephalogram (EEG) led to a diagnosis of traumatic brain injury. “He is still under supervision per the doctor’s orders,” the source said.
Prison officials have a long history of mistreating and assaulting prisoners with impunity. This past May, former IRGC 3rd Lieutenant Saeed Nouri reportedly sustained a beating by two prison guards inside the office of the prison’s internal director; and in July, a warden assaulted Saeed Seyyed Abbasi for arriving late to the prison yard for recreation time. Despite Abbasi’s injuries, he was subsequently transferred to solitary confinement without receiving any medical attention.
53 Days into Solidarity Hunger Strike, Ailing Civil Rights Activist Farhad Meysami Stands His Ground
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- In protest of the imprisonment of his comrade Reza Khandan, civil Rights Activist Farhad Meysami has now been starving himself for 53 consecutive days.
In a visit to the Evin Prison clinic September 22nd, according to a close source, doctors noted Meysami’s 42-pound weight loss and steep drop in blood pressure and urged him to be admitted to the clinic. Meysami refused, persistent in his requests to be transferred to an outside hospital.
Shortly thereafter, prison authorities, including the prison director, came to visit Meysami, who reiterated to them the sole condition in which he will end his hunger strike: the dropping of all charges against Reza Khandan.
Farhad Meysami was arrested in his personal study on July 31st. He was originally charged with “gathering and collusion aimed at disrupting national security,”; “propaganda against the regime”; and “insulting hijab, a necessary and sacred element of Islam.”
On September 3rd, however, Branch 7 of the Evin prosecutor’s interrogation department claimed that charges have since changed, with the last one replaced with “spreading corruption and prostitution.”
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both asked for Meysami’s release.