Masoud Eslaminasab, arrested at the 2022 nationwide protests, was transferred to Evin prison to start serving his seven-year sentence. He was arrested in October 2022 and detained in Great Tehran Penitentiary.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Masoud Eslaminasab (Bakhtiari) was jailed in Evin prison for sentencing.
Earlier, the Tehran Court of Appeals sentenced Eslaminasab to seven years in prison and four years of exile for multiple charges, including “arson and destruction of public property,” “assembly and collusion against national security,” and “membership in anti-regime groups.” On trial, he was acquitted of the charge of “carrying a cold weapon.”
Initially, Eslaminasab had received 21 years and six months for these charges.
On October 15, 2022, security forces arrested Eslaminasab at his house. The agents also searched his house and confiscated some of his belonging.
Eslaminasab was held for about one month in solitary confinement at Great Tehran Penitentiary. During detention, he reportedly was forced to make confessions to accept allegations such as ” enmity against God (Moharebeh) through assaulting a police officer.” However, the court dismissed the charge after the injured officer testified that Eslami-Nasab did not have any role in this incident.
It is noteworthy that along with Eslaminasab, dozens of other political prisoners and prisoners of conscience were relocated from Great Tehran Penitentiary to Evin Prison.
About the 2022 Nationwide Protests
The arrest of Mahsa Amini by Tehran Morality Police for her improper hejab and her suspicious death on September 16 sparked protests sweeping across Iran. During the nationwide protests, about 19600 people, including journalists, artists, lawyers, teachers, students and civil rights activists, were arrested.
In an open letter, political prisoner Mehran Raoof sheds light on how he and other political and double national prisoners are denied their fundamental rights in Iranian prisons.
He highlights that governments often use double national prisoners as leverage in negotiations with other countries, so the recent pardon and commutation directive does not include them.
Raoof further speaks out against the violations of his rights during detention, stating that the IRGC intelligence unit held him in detention for eight months without any furlough or access to a lawyer, which is a clear violation of Iranian law. Moreover, for several months, his family was kept in the dark about his condition and whereabouts, and he was not even allowed to contact them.
He ends his letter with these statements:
“This clear discrimination and oppression are not unfamiliar to us, who have lived under the rule of the Islamic Republic for over 40 years. Many of us, including political prisoners, women’s rights activists, environmental activists, and workers’ rights activists are imprisoned on charges of having different beliefs and opinions and protesting against wrong and dictatorial policies and laws. We stand in solidarity with the nationwide protests, demanding the unconditional release of all political prisoners.”
In October 2020, IRGC intelligence agents arrested this 65-year-old British-Iranian national and held him for eight months in a detention facility known as Ward 2A in Evin Prison. Later, he was relocated to Ward 1. In August 2021, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Iman Afshari, sentenced him to ten years and eight months in prison, which was later reduced to seven years and six months.
The Great Tehran Penitentiary officials regularly delay the issuance of permits for medical treatment, putting prisoners’ health at risk. This report sheds light on the violation of prisoners’ health-related rights in this prison and the negative impacts on inmates’ health conditions.
An inmate, recently freed from this prison, explained to HRANA the lengthy process of requesting a permit for medical care: “to receive a permit for medical care, the prison infirmary physician has to deliver a request letter to the Judgement Enforcement Unit. If approved, this unit sends a request letter to Judicial Deputy and the latter to the assistant prosecutor. This process takes a long time resulting in the exacerbation of inmates’ health condition and subsequent denial of medical treatment.”
“In addition to the long process, sometimes the request letters were missing, which frequently happens during the correspondence among prison officials,” another inmate stated.
Asadollah Hadi, Davood Razavi, Shahriar Bayat and Zartosht Ahmadi Ragheb are among the inmates who suffered medical issues due to the prison officials’ delays and impediments.
According to reports obtained by HRANA, in recent days, political prisoner Asadollah Hadi was taken to the prison infirmary. Despite that, only after many twists and turns did the prison officials agree to dispatch him to a hospital outside the prison. Hadi has 60% physical disability and underwent heart surgeries during the last few years. Nonetheless, prison officials still delay medical treatments.
Another inmate, 20-year-old Amir-Hossein Ghena’atgar, who was arrested during the nationwide protests, is in poor health condition and has been denied medical care. In this regard, an informed source told HRANA, “he has been injured in eyes, neck, arm and chest by pellet guns. Despite having an infection from the pellets still in his body, he has been denied adequate medical care.”
In 2022, the Department of Statistics of Human Rights Activists in Iran registered 4,322 deprivation of medical care and 20 deaths due to illness.
According to Articles 102 and 113 of the Executive Regulations of the Iranian Prisons Organization, the prison infirmary is obliged to perform the medical examination of prisoners at least once a month, which in practice happens rarely. Also, in a case where medical treatment is not possible inside prison, with permission from the head of the prison and supervising judge, the inmate can be dispatched to a hospital as soon as possible. The rules unfortunately do not exempt emergency cases from the judge’s permission, causing unnecessary delays and jeopardizing the inmate’s lives.
Ward 3, Type 6 of the Great Tehran Penitentiary, currently houses around 500 individuals who were arrested during the nationwide protests of 2022. This ward is overcrowded, and inmates suffer from poor living conditions, including unhealthy drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and insufficient food portions. Additionally, prison officials are not returning prisoners’ belongings upon their release, causing further distress.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, about 550 individuals arrested during the 2022 nationwide protests are held in poor conditions in Great Tehran Penitentiary.
They are held in Ward 3, Type 6, which is twice its intended capacity.
According to one family member of an inmate, “this ward has about 250 beds, and more than half of the inmates have to sleep on the floor.”
In addition to the lack of sleeping accommodations, prison officers do not provide any toiletries, and inmates must purchase these items from the overpriced prison store.
Another inmate’s family member expressed concern about the poor quality of drinking water, saying that “inmates have to purchase water from the prison store” and that “meals are also of low quality and insufficient.”
Furthermore, released prisoners are not receiving their personal belongings back, such as wristwatches and cell phones, and inquiries about these items have gone unanswered. One prisoner, who was recently released, reported this issue to HRANA.
Political prisoner Mehdi Meskinnavaz is currently serving his seven-and-a-half-year sentence at Great Tehran Penitentiary. He has recently faced a new legal case while in prison.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, political prisoner Mehdi Meskinnavaz faced new charges while in prison.
An informed source told HRANA, “this new legal case is related to incidents during his incarceration in Rajai-Shahr Prison. On March 14, the court held a session addressing the charges. Meskinnavaz refused to appear at the court in protest against unfair due process.”
On January 30, 2023, Meskinnavaz was relocated from Rajai Shahr Prison to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. Meanwhile, intelligence agents arrested his 17-year-old daughter, Asal Meskinnavaz. After 14 days, Meskinnavaz was transferred to Great Tehran Penitentiary.
On May 5, 2019, security forces arrested Meskinnavaz in Bandar Anzali for “running a Telegram channel advocating the overthrow of the regime.”
In August 2019, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Meskinnavaz to 13 years for “assembly and collusion to act against national security, insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran, and Propaganda against the regime.” He was also banned from membership in political parties and groups and two-year compulsory residence in exile in Fahraj, Kerman. Applying Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, seven years and six months in prison for one charge was enforceable.
Teacher union activist Mehdi Fathi, imprisoned in Adelabad Prison, was denied adequate medical care and medical furlough, despite suffering from heart failure and high blood pressure.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, teacher union activist Mehdi Fathi is currently serving his sentence in Adelabad Prison, Shiraz.
An informed source close to his family told HRANA, “Fathi suffers from heart failure and high blood pressure. Yet, prison officials deny him adequate medical care and refuse to dispatch him to a medical furlough.”
“Recently, prison officials promised him a medical leave. However, at the last minute, for unknown reasons, they changed their minds. Also, Fathi’s access to call his family was restricted in recent weeks.”
In March 2022, the court sentenced him to 12 years in prison on the charges of “assembly and collusion against national security,” “propaganda against the regime,” and “insulting the former and current Supreme Leader.” He was also sentenced to a two-year exile and banned from leaving the country for two years.
This sentence was reduced to eight years on appeal. Applying Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, five years for one charge was enforceable.
On June 8, 2022, security forces arrested him to start serving his sentence in Adelabad Prison.
Fathi is a history teacher, teacher union activist, and resident of the Kordshul village, Fars Province.
Six prisoners facing national-security-related charges, Rahman Parhazoo, Aran Omri, Amir Moshtagh Gangachin, Fakhreddin Doodkanloo, Milan and Ashkan Othmanzadeh, went on hunger strike against received death penalties and long sentences in Urmia Prison.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on March 14, 2023, six prisoners of Urmia Prison went on hunger strike.
An informed source told HRANA, “they went on hunger strike to protest against the received sentences. Last month, Branch 3 of the Urmia Revolutionary Court sentenced Aran Omri and Rahman Parhazoo to death on the charge of spying for Israel. Amir Moshtagh Gangachin, Fakhreddin Doodkanloo, Milan and Ashkan Othmanzadeh received ten years for the same charge.”
In October-November 2021, security forces arrested these individuals accused of espionage. On March 11, 2021, they were jailed in Urmia Prison.
In May 2022, media outlets published a video of a man, allegedly an IRGC member interrogated by Israeli forces inside Iran, confessing that he was potting to hit on Israel. Later, this man called himself Mansour Rasouli denied his confession, claiming he is just a farmer who was abducted and forced to state these false statements.
Three weeks later, IRGC announced the arrest of several people who were working for Israel and kidnapping people to force them to extract false confessions.
On May 22, 2022, IRGC announced that the members of a network spying for Israel have been apprehended.
On March 8, an inmate died in Urmia Prison due to the lack of medical care and prison officials’ delay in dispatching him to a hospital.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, an inmate identified as Farhad Naghizadeh died in Urmia prison due to a delay in medical care.
An informed source told HRANA that “Naghizadeh suffered from heart disease. Last Wednesday, he fell ill severely. Prison officials, however, delayed his dispatch to a hospital. He died while they were transferring him out of the ward.”
For Five years, Naghizadeh was imprisoned for drug-related crimes.
In 2022, the Department of Statistics of Human Rights Activists in Iran registered 1127 reports of violations of prisoner’s rights including; 133 physical assaults of prisoners, 4322 of deprivation of medical care, 204 of illegal transfer to solitary confinement, 102 of attempted hunger strikes, 166 of forced transportation or exile, 4983 of threats against prisoners, 46 of banning prisoners from having visitors, 652 of psychological and physical torture, 20 prisoners died due to illness, 2 arrestees were killed by prison authorities, and 14 prisoners committed suicide.
On March 7, 2023, women’s rights activist Akram Nasirian was released from Evin Prison.
In August 2022, Nasirian was summoned to Evin Courthouse and jailed to serve her two-year-and-three-month sentence in Evin Prison.
The details of her release are still unknown.
On April 29, 2019, security forces arrested Nasirian in Tehran and detained her in solitary confinement under interrogation in Evin Prison for 20 days. In Late May, she was relocated to double cell solitary in this ward.
On May 26, 2019, she was released on 200-million-toman bail until the end of legal proceedings.
On September 4, 2019, along with Nahid Shaghaghi, Nasirian was summoned to the Evin Courthouse investigation office, presided by Judge Nasiripour.
The Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced Nasirian and three other women’s rights activists, Asrin Darkaleh, Maryam Mohammadi and Nahid Shaghaghi, each to four years and two months. These verdicts were reduced to two years and three months after the defendants waived their rights to appeal.
In March 2020, Nasirian and three other women’s rights activists were summoned to Evin Courthouse for sentencing, which was postponed until April 3, 2022, due to the Head of Judiciary’s directive to keep health prisons condition in control during the Covid-19 pandemic. In August 2022, she was jailed in Evin Prison.
Currently, 24 women are being held at the women’s ward of Evin Prison in Tehran for political and alleged national security charges. This report provides an updated list of these prisoners along with their latest conditions, including the multiple health issues some are facing due to enduring long-term sentences or being beaten during detention.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, there are 24 women being held for political charges in the women’s ward of Evin Prison in Tehran.
During incarceration, they have experienced solitary confinement, frequent interrogation, being charged with new accusations, lack of adequate medical care, and being denied family visitation and phone calls. They have also been co-housed with prisoners who have committed violent crimes.
Among these prisoners, Mahvash Shahriari Sabet, Fariba Kamalabadi, Niloufar Bayani, Sepideh Kashani, Nahid Taghavi and Zahra Zehtabchi, among others, have spent a significant part of their incarceration in solitary confinement.
Many of these inmates are mothers including Zarha Zehtabchi, Narges Mohammadi, Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, Maliheh Nazari, Samin Ehsani, and Narges Mansouri.
Since prisoners’ conditions are changing constantly, particularly after the recent mass releases under the “pardon and commute” directive, this report provides an updated list of the political prisoners in this ward.
Bahareh Hedayat
Bahareh Hedayat
Bahareh Hedayat, age 41, is serving her four-year and eight-month sentence. She was arrested and detained several times for her civil activities on June 12, 2006, July 9, 2007, July 13, 2008, and March 21, 2009.
On December 30, 2009, she was arrested again. After a few months of detention in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, she was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison. Next year, she received additional six months for writing an open letter.
By the midwinter of 2016, according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal code, Hedayat had served out her time. Yet, judicial authorities refused to set her free by ordering her two-year suspended sentence, received in 2007, to be served. She was eventually released from jail on September 4, 2016, after serving six years and six months for all accumulated sentences.
On October 3, 2019, security forces arrested Hedayat amid the 2019–2020 Iranian protests. Subsequently, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced her to four years and eight months, two years banned from membership in political and civil groups, and penal labor in a nursing home for three months.
Lastly, on October 3, 2022, Hedayat was arrested amid 2022 nationwide protests, and on November 6 was jailed in Evin Prison to start her sentence received in 2019.
Currently, Hedayat is serving the second moths of her prison term. She has been held in solitary confinement for seven months.
Akram Nasirian
Akram Nasirian
On April 29, 2019, security forces arrested Nasirian in Tehran and detained her in solitary confinement under interrogation in Evin Prison for 20 days. In Late May, she was relocated to double cell solitary in this ward.
On May 26, 2019, she was released on 200-million-toman bail until the end of legal proceedings.
On September 4, 2019, along with Nahid Shaghaghi, Nasirian was summoned to the Evin Courthouse investigation office, presided by Judge Nasiripour.
The Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced Nasirian and three other women’s rights activists, Asrin Darkaleh, Maryam Mohammadi and Nahid Shaghaghi, each to four years and two months. These verdicts were reduced to two years and three months after the defendants waived their rights to appeal.
In March 2020, Nasirian and three other women’s rights activists were summoned to Evin Courthouse for sentencing, which was postponed until April 3, 2022, due to the Head of Judiciary’s directive to keep health prisons condition in control during the Covid-19 pandemic. Eventually, in August 2022, they were jailed in Evin Prison to start serving their sentences.
Nasirian, 60 years old, a resident of Tehran, is a member of The Call of the Iranian Women NGO.
Sepideh Gholian
Sepideh Gholian
On November 18, 2018, Sepideh Gholian was arrested along with at least 19 others, including members of the Assembly of Representatives of Haft-Tappeh (Sugarcane Agro-Industry Company) workers, and several workers’ activists by Public Security Police in Shush city. She was released on bail after one month.
On January 19, 2019, Iran’s state TV aired a report showing some written statements signed by Gholian and others, including Esmail Bakhshi, and Ali Nejati (a member of the managing board of the labor union representing Haft Tappeh workers), confessing their connection with Marxist anti-regime Groups outside the country.
In response, Bakhshi and Gholian announced that these confessions were extracted under torture during their interrogation by the Ministry of Intelligence agents and other security forces. Both Judiciary and the Ministry of Intelligence dismissed their statements and arrested them just a few hours later.
On October 26, 2019, Gholian was released on bail until the end of legal proceedings. On December 14, 2019, the Tehran Court of Appeals sentenced her to five years imprisonment. On June 21, 2020, she was arrested after an appearance at Evin Courthouse and jailed in Evin Prison for sentencing.
On June 21, 2020, Gholian was transferred from Evin to Bushehr Prison in exile, despite her frequent request to be relocated to Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz, where her family lives.
On November 16, 2022, an investigation branch of the Public and Revolutionary prosecutor office in Tehran briefed her on the charges of “spreading falsehood, blasphemy, insulting, slandering, and accusing the government officials.”
Civil rights activist Gholian, age 29, has spent a total of 80 days in solitary confinement. She went three times on a hunger strike while in prison. During her incarceration, many times, she has been denied adequate medical treatment and attacked by prisoners of violent crimes.
Samin Ehsani
Samin Ehsani
On August 17, 2011, Baha’i citizen Samin Ehsani, age 37, a children’s rights activist, was arrested at Evin Courthouse, where she was for resolving some passport issues. After that, security forces raided and searched her house and confiscated some of her belongings, including her computer and materials related to the Baha’i faith.
Ehsani spent her first eleven days of detention in solitary confinement in Ward 2A of Evin Prison and then was relocated to a multiple-occupancy cell in this ward.
She was released on 185-million-toman bail after one month.
On June 9, 2012, Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, sentenced her to five years in prison. On June 15, 2022, she was jailed in Evin prison to begin serving her sentence.
In recent years, Eshani has been engaging in educational activities by holding educational courses for Afghan children who are unable to go to school. On trial, such activities were presented as an example of the charges.
In prison, Ehsani was denied proper medical care after contracting Covid-19. Prison officials refused to dispatch her to the hospital. In total, Ehsani endured 25 days in solitary confinement.
Zahra Zehtabchi
Zahra Zehtabchi
Along with her husband and daughter, Zahra Zehtabchi was arrested on October 16, 2013. She was relocated to the women’s ward of Evin prison after enduring 14 months in solitary confinement in Ward 209. On December 8, 2014, Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Salavati, sentenced her to 12 years in prison for “armed insurrection against the regime (Baghi)” and “enmity against God (Moharebeh).” This verdict was reduced to 10 years on appeal by applying Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code.
After her arrest, her husband Javad Khosh-Niyat was arrested and detained for 22 days following an inquiry about his wife’s condition.
Zehtabchi was arrested and detained for a few days in 2009 while she was surveying people’s opinions on presidential election results on behalf of the University of Tehran.
Zehtabchi, age 53, is a mother of two daughters, aged 17 and 24. She has been on furlough only once for three days in the third year of her sentence.
She is currently spending the ninth year of her sentence. She was held for 14 months in solitary confinement in IRGC’s detention facility known as Ward 2A of Evin Prison.
Narges Mohammadi
Narges Mohammadi
Narges Mohammadi was arrested for the first time in 2002 and released after one week. She received one year in this legal case.
In June 2010, Mohammadi was arrested again and held in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. Next month, she was released on 100-million-toman bail. Next year, she was sentenced to 11 years for “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the regime.” The verdict was reduced to 6 years on appeal.
In 2012, Mohammadi was arrested for starting her six-year sentence. After one month in solitary confinement and four months in Zanjan Prison in exile, she was released due to her disease and penal intolerance. In May 2015, she was rearrested and jailed in the women’s ward of Evin Prison to continue serving her six-year sentence. Moreover, she faced more charges in a new legal case.
In this new legal case, she was sentenced to 16 years for “forming an illegal group known as Legam (a campaign planning steps toward abolishing the death penalty)” and “propaganda against the regime.”
Applying article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code made ten years for one charge enforceable.
Mohammadi, age 46 and a mother of two children, is denied any phone call to her husband living abroad. She suffers from pulmonary embolism and muscular paralysis. On September 29, 2018, she was granted a medical furlough for three days.
On January 12, 2019, she and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe went on a hunger strike in protest against inadequate medical treatment. After two days, they ended their hunger strike following prison officials’ promises.
On May 14, 2019, she was dispatched to a hospital to undergo surgery (hysterectomy- a surgical procedure to remove the uterus). Twelve days later, she was returned to prison although she still needed medical care.
On February 22, 2020, while serving her 16-year sentence, Mohammadi faced two new legal cases. One for “publishing political statements, holding educational classes and sit-down strike in the women’s ward of Evin Prison.” The second case was opened against her following the head of Evin Prison Gholamreza Ziaei’s complaint because he was allegedly accused of “torture and beating” by Mohammadi. In this case, Mohammadi was also accused of “disturbing prison order through singing songs aloud.”
On April 17, 2020, Mohammadi’s lawyer Mahmood Behzadirad informed the public that his client’s request for furlough and release on probation was rejected despite her suffering from mental and physical illness. Moreover, Mohammadi was held in the same with prisoners of violent crimes and had been threatened with death by one of them.
On October 8, 2020, Mohammadi was released from prison after serving five-and-a-half years.
On November 16, 2021, Mohammadi was arrested again during a ceremony honoring Ebrahim Ketabdar, who was killed by security forces in Karaj during the November 2019 protests. Six days later, she was briefed on new charges and then held in solitary confinement in Evil Prison. Thereafter, she was transferred to Qarchak Prison, Varamin.
In January 2022, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced her to eight years in prison, 74 lashes, two years exile and other social deprivations. Following her refusal not to appeal the conviction, the Revolutionary Court announced this sentence final.
While in prison, she faced a new legal case opened by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. For this case, she received 15 months for “propaganda against the regime and monthly reporting to the police for two years. She was also banned from leaving the country, membership in civil and political groups for two years and doing cleaning service at penal labour in abandoned urban areas for four hours a day for three months.”
On April 12, 2022, prison officials denied her the medicine she had to use on a daily basis. She could receive these medicine only after 20 days.
Mohammadi, age 50, has been subjected to violence many times by prison guards and prisoners of violent crimes. Despite having heart disease, she has been denied medical care and medicine. She was held for a total of five months in solitary confinement.
Sara Ahmadi
Sara Ahmadi
On June 13, 2020, security forces arrested Sara Ahmadi and her spouse Homayoun Zhaveh at their rental vacation lodge in Amol, Mazandaran Province. She was released on 300-million-toman bail from Evin Prison. Zhaveh was released on a bail of 200 million tomans on August 24, 2020.
On November 11, 2020, the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced Ahmadi and Zhaveh to 11 and 3 years in prison, respectively.
On October 9, 2020, the Tehran Court of Appeals sentenced Ahmadi to eight years for “running illegal Zionist evangelical Christian groups.” and Zahveh to three years for the same charge. This Christian convert couple was also banned from leaving the country, membership in political parties and civil groups for two years and service work for people with disabilities four hours a day for six months.
On March 19, 2021, they were summoned to Eving courthouse to begin serving their sentences.
Christian convert Sara Ahmadi, age 44, has been held in solitary confinement for 67 days.
Sepideh Kashani
Sepideh Kashani
Environmental activist Speideh (Hamideh) Kashan Doost (Kashani) and seven other activists were arrested by IRGC intelligence agents in January 2018 and taken to Ward 2A of Evin Prison.
In February 2019, Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court postponed the court date to next year. In November 2019, this court, headed by Judge Salavati, sentenced Kashani to six years in prison for “collaboration with the hostile U.S. government.” Next months, after enduring 700 days of detention, she was relocated to the women’s ward of Evin Prison to start serving her sentence.
On February 18, 2020, Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals, presided by Judge Ahmad Zargar, upheld the verdict.
Kashani, an environmental activist and an expert at the Parsian Wildlife Institute, age 50, was held in solitary confinement for two years. She spent eight months in solitary confinement in Ward 2A of Evin Prison at IRGC’s disposal. So far, she has been granted two times prison furloughs.
During her incarceration, she has been denied proper medical care, phone calls and visitation.
Niloufar Bayani
Niloufar Bayani
In January 2018, IRGC intelligence agents arrested environmental conservationist Niloufar Bayani, along with other activists, and took them to Ward 2A of Evin Prison, Tehran. During detention, she was subjected to pressure and sexual harassment to make coerced confessions against herself and other co-defendants.
After holding a few court sessions, in February 2019, Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court postponed the trial to next year. In November 2019, this court, headed by Judge Salavati, sentenced her to ten years in prison for “collaboration with the hostile U.S. government.”
Next months, after being held in IRGC’s Ward 2A, she was relocated to the women’s ward of Evin Prison to start serving her sentence. The verdict was upheld on appeal.
In the winter of 2020, in an open letter, Bayani revealed that IRGC interrogators tortured her mentally and physically, and sexually harassed her during at least 1200 hours of interrogation. Earlier in April 2019, HRANA had disclosed sexual harassment, torture and threats against the defendants, including Bayani, to extract confessions.
Due to publishing this open letter, she was pressed with new charges on which she was briefed in Evin Courthouse.
Bayani is a former expert at the Parsian Wildlife Institute. Currently, she is serving the fifth year of her sentence in Evin Prison. She has spent two years of her ten-year sentence in Ward 2A, a detention facility at IRGC’s disposal.
Shakila Monfared
Shakila Monfared
On August 31, 2020, security forces arrested Monfared in Tehran while she was leaving her house and took her to an IRGC detention facility.
Nine days later, she was relocated to the women’s ward of Evin Prison after completing interrogation. On September 14, 2020, she was released on bail from Evin Prison.
The branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced her to six years for “propaganda against the regime and blasphemy.” She was also ordered to do penal labor in the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad for four months. Eventually, Branch 36 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court reduced her sentence to four years and two months.
On May 2, 2021, Monfared was transferred from Evin prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin in exile. After that, she received additional two years and eight months on the charge of “membership in anti-regime groups” and a 10-million-toman fine for “spreading falsehood.”
Following a complaint filed by the Prisons and Security and Corrective Measures Organization for their refusal to be transferred to the court from prison with handcuff, Monfared and 13 other political prisoners faced a new legal case opened by Branch 3 of Evin Courthouse. She was pressed with “disturbing public order and peace, assembly and collusion against the regime, insulting regime officials and disobeying prison officials.”
Monfared, age 29, a resident of Tehran, endured 72 days of solitary confinement. Despite suffering from digestive disease and severe stomach pain, she has been denied adequate medical care. During her incarceration, she was granted furlough only one time.
During this time, Monfared was deprived of visitation and phone calls for two months. She went on a hunger strike and refusal to take medicine to protest against being cohoused with prisoners of violent crimes and lack of medical care.
Fariba Kamalabadi
Fariba Kamalabadi
On May 14, 2008, Kamalabadi was arrested in Tehran and held in solitary confinement for 27 months in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. On August 8, 2010, she went on trial with six other members of a Baha’i group known as the “Yaran e Iran” or “Friends of Iran,” which addressed the spiritual and social needs of the Baha’i community. Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, sentenced her to 20 years in prison. The next day after the trial, she and Mahvash Shahriari Sabet were jailed in exile in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj.
In May 2011, Kamalabadi was relocated to Qarchak Prison in Varamin and a week later to the women’s ward of Evin Prison. In 2011, by applying the Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, her sentence was reduced to ten years.
Kamalabadi suffers from lumbar disc disease. However, during her incarceration, she has been granted furlough only once. During the leave, she met Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani causing outcry among the regime’s authorities and media inside Iran.
On October 31, 2017, she was set free from Evin Prison after serving her ten-year sentence.
On July 31, 2022, security forces arrested Kamalabadi and another member of “Yaran e Iran” Mahvash Shahriari Sabet in Tehran. Subsequently, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced each of these Baha’is to 10 years for “running a society of the deviant sect (a terminology used by Iran’s regime to refer to the Baha’is) in the purpose of acting against national security.”
Kamalabadi, age 60, is a resident of Tehran.
Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani
Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani
In the aftermath of the 2009 Iranian election protests, Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani was arrested twice for a few hours on June 20, 2009, and February 20, 2011.
The Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Salavati, sentenced Hashemi Rafsanjani to six months in prison for “propaganda against the regime.” She was also banned from membership in political parties and groups, presence in media and civil activities on social media. This verdict was upheld on appeal.
On September 22, 2012, security forces arrested and jailed her in the women’s ward of Evin Prison to begin serving her sentence.
While in prison, she faced a new legal case for her protests against the women’s ward issues. Accused of “insulting the Supreme Leader” and “disturbing prison order,” she was sentenced to three weeks of punitive isolation in Ward 209 and deprived of visitation.
On September 27, 2022, security forces arrested this political activist again in Tehran. She received 15 months for “propaganda against the regime” and 37 months for “blasphemy.”
Hashemi Rafsanjani, born on 7 January 1963, is a former member of the Iranian parliament from 1996 to 2000, and a member of the Executives of Construction Party. She was held for 38 days in solitary confinement.
Fatemeh Mosanna
Fatemeh Mosanna
On January 28, 2013, the Ministry of Intelligence agents arrested Fatemeh Mosanna, age 53, along with her husband, Hassan Sadeghi, and her child. She was held in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin prison for 75 days and then relocated to the women’s ward.
On January 13, 2014, she was released on bail. After that, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced the couple each to 15 years in prison on the charges of “armed insurrection against the regime (Baghi)” and “enmity against God (Moharebeh),” through advocating People’s Mojahedin Organization (MEK). The court also ordered the seizure of their shop and house. On September 30, 2015, she was arrested and jailed in the women’s ward of Evin Prison to begin serving her sentence.
Mosanna is the mother of two children who are currently living with their grandmother. Mosanna is deprived of having a furlough despite suffering from intestinal colitis and severe migraine. Since February 2019, she could see her husband, imprisoned in Rajai Shahr Prison, only three times. The Their last visitation was in May 2019. While other inmates can have visitation regularly, she is allowed visitation only with Amin Vaziri’s permission, an assistant prosecutor overseeing prisoners. This ban violates the rules governing prison visits, entitling prisoners to have family visitation even if they are housed in separate prisons.
In March 2019, the agents of the Execution of Imam Khomeini seized this couple’s shop and then in May 2020, they seized their house.
Despite suffering from sciatic nerve pain, intestinal colitis and severe migraine, many times, Mosanna was denied proper medical care and treatment in a hospital outside the prison.
When Mosanna was only 13 years old, she spent three years in jail with her mother. During this period, her three brothers Ali, Mostafa and Morteza, as well as the wife of one of her brothers, were executed for the charge of “enmity against God” and “advocating for The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran.”
Vida Rabbani
Vida Rabbani
Vida Rabbani, a journalist and member of the Union of Islamic Iran People Party, was arrested several arrests in 2020, 2021 and 2022 over to her participation in protest gatherings regarding some issues in Afghanistan and the crash of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which was shot by IRGC’s missile.
Branch 36 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Rabbani to five years for “blasphemy,” four years for “assembly and collusion against national security,” eight months for “propaganda against the regime,” and eight months for “disturbing in public order.” Moreover, she was banned from civil activities on social media, gatherings and political activities. The verdict is upheld on appeal. Based on the Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, five years for one charge is enforceable.
Amid the 2022 nationwide protests, Rabbani was arrested again and sentenced to six years and 15 months in prison for “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the regime.”
Rabbani, age 34, was held in solitary confinement for 70 days.
Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee
Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee
On September 6, 2014, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and her husband Arash Sadeghi were arrested. She was held in an IRGC detention facility A.k.A “Safehouse” and then transferred to IRGC’s Ward 2A, in Evin Prison. After 20 days, she was released on an 800-million-toman bail.
Ebrahimi Iraee and Arash Sadeghi began serving their sentence on October 24, 2016, in Evin Prison. While serving her sentence in prison, she and Atena Daemi faced a new legal case. On April 8, 2019, she was released from prison after serving her sentence. However, she had to provide bail for the second case.
For this new legal case, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced her and Daemi to three years and seven months. Moreover, both were banned from membership in political groups and parties. These verdicts were upheld on appeal. According to their lawyer, by applying the Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, two years and one month were enforceable to them.
On November 9, 2019, about ten agents raided her house and arrested Iraee without showing any arrest warrant. They took her to the Evin Judgement enforcement unit to begin serving her sentence in Evin Prison. The head of Evin Prison, Gholamreza Ziaei, refused to house Iraee in Evin Prison. After one day, Amin Vaziri, an assistant prosecutor overseeing prisoners, unlawfully ordered the transfer of Ireaee to Qarchak Prison, Varamin.
Since her incarceration in Qarchak Prison, Iraee has not been allowed to call or meet her spouse, Arash Sadeghi, a civil rights activist imprisoned in Rajai Shahr Prison.
On December 7, 2020, Iraee was summoned to an IRGC detention facility for interrogation. As an inmate serving her sentence, Iraee called this summons against the law and refused to go. Following her refusal, the prison guards beat her and took her forcefully to the detention facility, where she was interrogated for 43 days. After a while, she was transferred to Amol prison in exile. Meanwhile, security agents searched her house.
While she was in Amol prison, in a trial in absentia, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced her to one year for “propaganda against the regime.” She was also banned from leaving the country for two years and from membership in political groups. Throughout the trial, she was denied access to a lawyer.
On May 9, 2022, Iraee was set free from Amol prison. However, she was rearrested violently at her home in Tehran on September 26, 2022. During the arrest, the agents searched her house.
On November 17, 2022, Iraee was briefed on the charges of “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the regime” at Branch 2 of Evin Courthouse, presided by Judge, Mahmood Haj Moradi.
This political prisoner has been transferred from Qarchak Prison to the women’s ward of Evin Prison. The reason for her relocation is still unknown.
Iraee, age 42, had been held in solitary confinement for 79 days.
Malihe Nazari
Malihe Nazari
On June 30, 2020, security forces arrested Christian convert Malihe Nazari at her home in Tehran and took her to Evin Prison. On July 22, 2020, she was transferred to Qarchak Prison, Varamin.
In early September 2020, she was released on 300-million-toman bail.
On June 7, 2021, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced her to six years in prison for “forming illegal groups to act against national security, disrupting national security through preaching Evangelical Christianity and creating home churches.”
On August 30, 2022, she was jailed in Evin Prison to begin serving her sentence.
Nazari, age 50, is a mother of two sons, aged 22 and 15. She has been held in solitary confinement for 20 days.
Mahvash Shahriari Sabet
Mahvash Shahriari Sabet
On March 5, 2008, Mahvash Shahriari Sabet was arrested in Mashhad. After enduring 13 months of solitary confinement in Mashhad, she was transferred to Evin Prison, where she was held in solitary confinement in Ward 209 for 27 months. In August 2010, Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, sentenced her to 20 years in prison. The next day, she was relocated into exile in Rajai Shahr Prison, Karaj. In April-May 2011, she was relocated to Qarchak Prison in Varamin and the next week, to the women’s ward of Evin Prison.
During her incarceration, Shahriari Sabet has been granted a furlough only one time. In 2015, her sentence was reduced to 10 years.
On September 18, 2017, Shahriari Sabet was set free from Evin Prison after serving her ten-year sentence. During the first 20 months of her prolonged detention, she had not any access to a lawyer.
On July 31, 2022, security forces arrested her again and searched her house. Subsequently, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced her to 10 years in prison. Despite suffering from several diseases such as osteoporosis as a result of long-term incarceration, she does not have access to her required medicine. Since November 21, 2022, she has not been allowed to call her family or have visitation.
Nahid Taghavi
Nahid Taghavi
On October 16, 2020, security forces arrested Iranian-German national Nahid Taghavi, age 68, at her home in Tehran and took her to solitary confinement in IRGC’s Ward 2A, in Evin Prison.
After five months, she was relocated to the women’s ward of Evin Prison. Since her arrest, she has undergone about 1000 hours of interrogation during 80 sessions.
Many times, under different pretexts, she was sent from the women’s ward to Ward 2A and held in solitary confinement.
Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced her to 10 years and 8 months for “running illegal groups and propaganda against the regime.”
Despite the doctor’s order for back surgery and providing bail by her family, she was denied medical leave, until July 19, 2022, when she was finally dispatched to a hospital. However, despite unfinished treatment, she was sent back forcefully to prison on November 13, 2022.
Taghavi spent, in total, 200 out of her 220 days of incarceration in solitary confinement. During her detention and imprisonment, she has been denied to make a phone call and proper medical care.
Nasrin Javadi Khezri
Nasrin Javadi Khezri
On May 1, 2019, at a protest gathering on International Workers’ Day before the parliament, Nasrin (Azam) Javadi Khezri, along with dozens of protestors, were arrested. 28 days later, she was released on 100-million-toman bail from Qarchak Prison.
Afterwards, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced her to five years for “assembly and collusion against national security,” one year for “propaganda against the regime”, and one year for “disturbing public order.” She was also sentenced to 74 lashes, a ban from using smartphones, and membership in civil/political groups and parties.
The Court of Appeals sentenced her to five years for the first above-mentioned charge. On July 2, 2022, she began serving her sentence in Evin Prison.
Javadi and 13 other political prisoners face a new legal case, following the Prisons Organization’s complaint about these prisoners’ refusal to be handcuffed during the transfer to the court. Branch 3 of Evin Prosecutor’s Office charged them with “disturbing public order, assembly and collusion against the regime, insulting the authorities and contempt of prison officials.”
Javadi, age 65, was held in solitary confinement for 50 days.
Narges Mansouri
Narges Mansouri
On August 12, 2019, security forces arrested Narges Mansouri while she was returning home from work. After 20 days of interrogation and being held in solitary confinement in the Ward 2A of Evin prison, she was transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin.
Following a three-day hunger strike, Mansouri was sent back to Evin Prison. On November 13, 2019, she was released on 500-million-toman bail until the end of legal proceedings.
In 2022, she was rearrested by security forces.
Mansouri is a civil rights activist and member of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company. She, age 46, is a mother of a 12-year-old child.
Mansouri was held for a total of 72 days in solitary confinement.
Maryam Haji Hosseini
Maryam Haji Hosseini
In September 2019, security forces arrested Maryam Haji Hosseini and held her in a detention facility in Tehran for about six months under interrogation. In March 2020, she was relocated to the women’s ward of Evin Prison.
On April 22, 2020, Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Salavati, held the first court session. Facing multiple charges including “spreading corruption on earth and spying for Israel,” Haji Hosseini was sentenced to death. On appeal, this verdict was commuted to ten years in prison and paying the money received for spying.
Haji Hosseini, age 50, has been held in solitary confinement for 412 days.
Tahereh Bajrovani
Tahereh Bajrovani
On December 21, 2022, security forces arrested Tahereh Bajrovani at her workplace in Tehran and took her to Ward 209 of Evin Prison.
After 33 days, she was relocated to the women’s ward of Evin Prison after 33 days of interrogation.
The reason for her arrest and the allegation against her is still unknown.
Bajrovani’s husband, Ali Fotoohi Koohsare, was killed by regime forces during the 2019–2020 Iranian protests.
Masoumeh (Farah) Nasaji
The Revolutionary Court sentenced Masoumeh Nasaji to five years and four months in prison. The details of her legal case and the charges are still unknown.
Nasaji, age 60, has been held for 48 days in solitary confinement.
Negar Zarei
Negar Zarei, age 31, was sentenced to five years and one month in prison by the Revolutionary Court. The details of her legal case and the charges are still unknown.
She has been held for 21 days in solitary confinement.
