Category: Prisoners

Sunni Prisoner Hamzeh Darvish Sentenced to Two Years and One Month In Prison

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Prisoners
Hamzeh Darvish, Rajai Shahr Prison, Sunni

In a new case recently opened against him, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht sentenced Sunni prisoner Hamzeh Darvish to two years and one month iin prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Darvish is currently serving a 15 year sentence in Lakan prison, and was sentenced to two years and one month in prison in a new legal case.

In this verdict, he has been sentenced to 18 months on the charge of “offensive statements against the supreme leader of Iran” and seven months and sixteen days on the charge of “propaganda against the regime”. This verdict was issued on March 5, and he was notified yesterday, March 9.

This case was opened following complaints by the Ministry of Intelligence regarding audio of Darvish that circulated on social media. In this audio recording, Darvish explains his condition in prison.

Darvish claims that in 2014, ISIS troops tricked him into Turkey and then he travelled to Syria. He had been in ISIS jail for some time, then escaped to Iran and introduced himself to security forces.

After spending a year in detention, he was released on bail. However, he was arrested again and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in a trial which raised many questions. On May 11, 2020, he was transferred from Rajai Shahr Prison to Lakan Prison. On September 30, 2020, he was held in solitary confinement for more than two months for the second time.

An Overview on Eleven Prisoner Hunger Strikes in Various Prisons

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News, Prisoners
Ali Musa-Nejad Farkoosh, Arsham (Mahmood) Rezai, Arsham Rezaei, Ebrahim Seddigh Hamedani, Fariba Asadi, Habibollah Miraki, Hunger Strike, Loghman Abdolllahzadeh, Loghman Mamandi, Mohammad Abolhassani, Mohammad Hooshangi, Shakila Monfared, Yousef Mehrad, Zartosht Ahmadi Ragheb

In recent weeks, at least 11 detained or imprisoned citizens went on hunger strike in various prisons in protest against a failure to address their concerns.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, at least eleven prisoners in various prisons across the country are on hunger strike.

This report outlines their latest conditions:

Zartosht Ahmadi Ragheb: On February 21, this civil activist was arrested at his house and transferred to Evin Prison. He has been on hunger strike since his arrest. On February 28, 2022, he was sent to a solitary confinement cell.

On March 2, he was transferred to the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, where prisoners of violent crimes are held. During the arrest, security agents searched his house and confiscated some of his personal belongings. Ragheb is a firefighter with 17 years of work experience who was fired from his job due to his civil activities.

Fariba Asadi: On February 27, this political prisoner went on hunger strike in Qarchak Prison following a quarrel and beating by a fellow inmate to protest against being held in the same ward as prisoners of violent crimes.

On January 3, she was arrested at her house and sent to Qarchak Prison in Varamin City to serve her sentence.

On December 12, 2021, she was summoned by the Executive Unit of the Qods Public and Revolutionary Court to endure her sentence. Earlier, along with three other defendants, she was sentenced to one year imprisonment on the charge of “propaganda against the regime.”

Arsham (Mahmood) Rezai: On February 7, the civil activist, who is jailed in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj City, went on hunger strike to protest against a failure to receive adequate medical treatment and refusal to grant him medical furlough. On February 27, the twenty-second day of his hunger strike, his weight had dropped to 52 kilograms and his blood pressure was critically low. He also suffers from a hiatal hernia, an Helicobacter pylori infection and a duodenal ulcer, which have worsened his health during the hunger strike.

Rezai was arrested on January 7, 2019 by security forces. On November 13 of that year, he was released on bail for 200 million tomans until the end of legal proceedings. On February 26, 2019, the Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Rezai, without informing his attorney that the court session was taking place, to eight years and six months imprisonment on charges of “propaganda against the regime”, “collusion against national security”, and “offensive statements against the supreme leader of Iran”. Per Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, the severest punishment of five years was enforceable. On January 20, the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to an additional 15 months in prison on new charges (which was later reduced to 11 months on appeal) and 4 months penal labor for the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad.

Mohammad Hooshangi: On February 23, Hooshangi went on hunger strike to protest his long-term detention in Urmia Prison. On March 7, he ended his hunger strike after prison officials promised to change bail from 7 billion to 2 billion tomans. In January of 2021, Hooshangi was arrested in Tehran and transferred to a detention centre at disposal of IRGC in Urmia City. Ultimately, after 7 months, he was relocated to Urmia Prison. He was charged with “membership in an anti-regime political groups”.

Ali Musa-Nejad Farkoosh: Since February 1, this civil activist, currently jailed in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj City, has been on hunger strike and refuses to take medicine as a way of demanding freedom for political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.

He suffers from diseases such as a hiatal gastric hernia and intestinal diverticulum. On February 27, after twenty-seven days on hunger strike, he had critically low blood pressure and an extreme weight loss of 13 kilograms.

He was granted medical furlough but was forced to return to prison on October 27, 2021 without completing treatment. Earlier, Forensic Medicine in Karaj City confirmed that he suffers from acute diseases that require surgery.

In June 2019, the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, headed by Judge Moghayeseh, sentenced Farkoosh to eight years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion to act against national security”, “an offensive statement against the current and former supreme leaders of Iran” and “propaganda against the regime”. This verdict was upheld by Branch 36 of Tehran’s Court of Appeals. Per Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, the severest punishment of five years on the count of “assembly and collusion” is enforceable.

On November 29, 2020, he was sent to Rajai Shahr Prison to serve his sentence.

Ebrahim Seddigh Hamedani: On February 12, Hamedani went on hunger strike in Marivan Prison to protest against the relocation of him and his son to Sanandaj Prison. Earlier, on January 24, this political prisoner refused to take his medicine in protest, leading to severe hyperglycemia.

He and his son were transferred from Urmia Prison to Marivan and Kamyaran prisons, respectively.

On February 23, 2019, Hamedani was arrested alongside along his son Salar and daughter Maryam Seddigh. He was transferred to Urmia Central Prison on April 23, 2019. Maryam Seddigh Hamedani was released from prison on April 25, 2019.

Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Urmia sentenced both men to 16 years imprisonment on charges such as “acting against national security through membership in an anti-regime organization” and “propaganda against the regime”.

In August of 2020, while serving their sentences, they were relocated to the detention centre of the Ministry of Intelligence in Urmia City and interrogated for allegedly spreading “propaganda against the regime inside prison”. Subsequently, a new legal case was opened against them and they were sentenced to an additional 11 months in prison.

Yousef Mehrad: The prisoner of conscience, who is jailed in Arak Prison, has been accused and condemned for blasphemy against the Prophet of Islam. On February 10, he went on hunger strike to protest the prohibition of phone calls. His latest condition since his hunger strike is unknown.

His lawyer, Mohammad Arman, announced that Mehrad has been sentenced to death for one charge and eight years in prison for the other by the Revolutionary Court of Arak. His court-appointed lawyer called the confirmation of this verdict by the Supreme Court unjust, and asserted that his client must be exonerated.

Previously, HRANA reported about this case, wherein two defendants, Sadrollah Fazeli Zare and Yousef Mehrad, were sentenced to death for “blasphemy against the Prophet of Islam” by Arak’s Revolutionary Court. In another trial, Mehrad was sentenced to 8 years in prison for “offensive statements against the current and formers supreme leader of Iran”.

On May 24, 2020, security forces arrested him at his house in Ardabil City. He was transferred to Arak Prison and was detained for two months in a solitary confinement cell. For eight months, he was not allowed to call his family and was denied family visitation. He is the father of three children.

Shakila Monfared: This political prisoner has been on hunger strike in Qarchak Prison in Varamin City since March 3.

She has gone on hunger strike to protest the housing of political prisoners in the same ward as prisoners of violent crime, the irresponsibility of prison officials towards her safety and a recent threat from a fellow inmates.

An informed source told HRANA that a prisoner of violent crimes threatened her with a sharpened piece of can and intended to injure her.

There is no further info about her condition since she was relocated to Ward 8 of the prison.

On August 31, 2020, security forces arrested Monfared while she was leaving her home. They transferred her to a detention centre at the disposal of the IRGC in Tehran. Reportedly, they did not have a warrant for this arrest.

On September 9 of last year, she was relocated to the quarantine section of the women’s ward of Evin Prison. On September 14, she was released on bail of 400 million tomans until the end of legal proceedings.

In January of this year, the joint court trial of Shakila Monfared, Arsham Rezaei, and Mohammad Abolhassani was held in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. 27-year-old Monfared was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 4 months of probation work in the Agricultural Jihad on charges of “propaganda activities against the system” and “insulting the sanctities of Islam”.

In addition to the mentioned-above political prisoners and imprisoned civil activists, at least three other prisoners, Habibollah Miraki, Loghman Mamandi and Loghman Abdolllahzadeh, went on hunger strike in Kamyaran Prison to protest the refusal of prison officials to grant furlough. Abdolllahzadeh has been on hunger strike since last Sunday, and the first two prisoners since yesterday.

In Iran’s prisons, hunger strikes are common among prisoners despite causing long-term physical and mental impairment. Hunger strikes are used as a last resort to achieve urgent demands such as unlawful long-term detention without trials, violations of prisoners’ rights and infringement in due process.

Keyvan Bazhan Released on Furlough Connecting to End of Sentence

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News, Prisoners
Baktash Abtin, Dariush Forouhar, Iranian Writers Association, Keyvan Bazhan, Mohammad Ja'far Pouyandeh, Mohammad Mokhtari, Parvaneh Eskandari, Reza Khandan

On March 9, Keyvan Bazhan, writer and a member of the Iranian Writers’ Association was released from Evin Prison on furlough. By the end of the furlough period, he will have served his sentence and hence will not return to prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Bazhan, has been imprisoned since October 2020. On May 7, 2015, Bazhan was summoned by Branch 12 of the Court of Culture and Media along with Reza Khandan and the deceased Baktash Abtin, where they were interrogated and accused of “propaganda against the regime”. On January 22, 2019, they were arrested during an appearance at Branch 28 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. Due to an increase in bail to one billion tomans and their inability to post bail, they were jailed in Evin Prison. Four days later, Bazhan was released on bail until the end of legal proceedings.

On April 27 and 28 of 2019, the first court session was held by Branch 28 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. The court, headed by Judge Mohammad Moghayeseh, sentenced him to one year in prison on the charge of “propaganda against the regime” and five years on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security”. On September 26, 2020, he was sent to Evin Prison to serve his sentence.

In the trial, examples for the above-mentioned charged included Bazhan’s membership in the IWA, as well as publishing the internal newsletter for IWA, collecting and authoring a book about the history of IWA and visiting the burial place of the writers who were killed during the Chain murders of Iran, such as Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad-Ja’far Pouyandeh.

The IWA is an independent group of authors, poets, editors and translators based in Iran which was formed in May 1968 to fight against state censorship. The government has continuously persecuted members of the IWA after the 1979 revolution. In 1998, several IWA members, including opposition politicians Dariush Forouhar and his wife Parvaneh Eskandari, and writers Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad-Ja’far Pouyandeh, were murdered.

Political Prisoner Shakila Monfared Goes on Hunger Strike in Qarchak Prison

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News, Prisoners
Arsham Rezaei, Iman Afshari, Mohammad Abolhassani, Shakila Monfared

On March 3, political prisoner Shakila Monfared went on a hunger strike in protest against the housing of political prisoners in the same ward as prisoners of violent crime, the irresponsibility of prison officials towards her safety and the recent threat from one of her fellow inmates.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, an informed source told HRANA that one of the prisoners of violent crimes threatened her with a sharpened piece of a can and intended to injure her.

In violation of prison rules, many political prisoners are housed in the same ward as prisoners of violent crimes, which make them subject to threats, battery and even murder.

On August 31, 2020, security forces arrested Monfared while she was leaving her home. They transferred her to a detention centre at the disposal of the IRGC in Tehran. Reportedly, they did not have a warrant for this arrest.

On September 9 of last year she was relocated to the quarantine section of the women’s ward of Evin Prison. On September 14, she was released on a bail of 400 million tomans until the end of legal proceedings.

In January of this year, the joint court trial of Shakila Monfared, Arsham Rezaei, and Mohammad Abolhassani was held in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. 27 year old Monfared was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 4 months of probation work in the Agricultural Jihad on charges of “propaganda activities against the system” and “insulting the sanctities of Islam”.

Monfared was granted furlough on August 23 of this year and returned to jail on September 7.

Mostafa Abdi Denied Adequate Medical Treatment Despite Showing COVID-19 Related Respiratory Problems

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News, Prisoners
Coronavirus, covid-19, Golestan-e Haftom, Gonabadi Dervishes, Mostafa Abdi

Mostafa Abdi, an imprisoned member of a religious community known as Gonabadi Dervishes, tested positive for COVID-19 in the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary. Despite showing serious COVID symptoms such as respiratory problems, he has not been allowed to be hospitalized outside prison or go on medical furlough.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Abdi’s father, Hasan Abdi, confirmed the news on his personal social media. According to an informed source close to the family, prisoner officials have not approved of medical furlough or dispatch to a hospital despite frequent requests and respiratory problems.

Abdi is a Gonabadi Darvish, a prisoner of conscience, and the administrator of the Dervish news site Majzooban-e-Noor.

On February 20, 2018, he was arrested during the Golestan-e Haftom Protests. These protests took place on Golestan 7th Street in a district in Tehran, which led to bloody clashes between security forces and Dervishes.

Thereafter, the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced him to 26 years and 3 months in prison, 148 lashings, a 2 year ban on both civic activities and travel, and a 2 year exile to Sistan and Baluchestan Province.

Applying Article 34 of the Islamic Penal Code, the severest punishment of seven years and six months is enforceable.

He had previously faced other arrests and convictions. In July of 2013, he was sentenced to three years in prison on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security”. In December of 2015, he was released from jail after serving his sentence.

Around midnight on February 3, 2018, several hundred Gonabadi Dervishes gathered before the home of their spiritual leader, Noor Ali Tabandeh, in a gesture of protection against heightened security monitoring of his activities (security forces had aggressively intervened in Dervish gatherings in the same spot less than two weeks earlier). Their February 3rd demonstration — on Golestan-e Haftom street in Tehran, hence the incident’s name — would fare no better and was soon violently disbanded by Iranian police and plainclothes forces of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij faction.

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Mohammad Hossein Ahangari Released With Electronic Tag From Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary

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News, Prisoners
arson, Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, Mohammad Hossein Ahangari

Mohammad Hossein Ahangari, who was arrested during nationwide protests in November 2019, was released with an electronic tag and restricted movement from the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary. He will serve the rest of his three-year sentence outside the prison with restrictions on his movement.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Ahangari was released on bail on November 26 2019, pending legal proceedings. In November 2020, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment by Branch 101 of the Criminal Court of Eslamshahr on the charge of “an arson attack on Basij Base”. On December 8, 2020, he was jailed to serve his sentence.

Iranian-American Citizen Emad Sharghi and Political Prisoner Reza Ghalandari Contract COVID-19 in Evin Prison

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News, Prisoners
Bahareh Amidi, Coronavirus, COVID, covid-19, Emad Sharghi, Reza Ghalandari, Salavati

Imprisoned Iranian-American citizen Emad Sharghi and political prisoner Reza Ghalandari tested positive for COVID-19 in Evin Prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Sharghi’s family has previously expressed concerns about his health in case he contracts COVID-19, as he suffers from high blood pressure and cholesterol. He has been deprived of the COVID-19 vaccine.

In April of 2018, Sharghi was arrested by IRGC intelligence agents on the charge of espionage. After nine months in detention, he was released on bail. IRGC confiscated his passport as well as the passport of his wife, Bahareh Amidi, in order to prevent them from leaving the country.

An informed source told HRANA regarding Shargi’s arrest that “about 20 security agents— later it turned out that they were IRGC agents— raided his house in Tehran at night to arrest him and his wife. Mr. Sharghi was detained for nine months in Evin Prison awaiting his legal proceedings. Finally, he was temporarily released on bail”.

On November 30, 2020,  Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Salavati, sentenced him to 10 years in prison in a trial in absentia. He was charged with “espionage and collecting gathering military intelligence.” He was not summoned to attend the trial and was denied the right to defend himself.

In January of 2021, HRANA reported his arrest at the border area of Sardasht by IRGC intelligence agents during an attempt to flee the country.

He is currently spending his sentence in Salon 9 of Ward 8 in Evin Prison.

Ghalandari, age 40, is serving his sentence in the same ward. He was sentenced five years in prison on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security” by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. The verdict was upheld on appeal.

Christian Convert Naser Navard Goltappeh’s Request for Retrial Rejected

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Freedom of Expression, News, Prisoners
Christian convert, christian converts in iran, Naser Navard Goltappeh, Religious Minorities, religious minorities in iran

Branch 9 of the Supreme Court rejected the imprisoned Christian convert Naser Navard Goltappeh’s request for a retrial for the fourth time. He is currently serving a 10 year sentence in Evin Prison. Despite suffering from oral and dental diseases and severe visual impairment, he has been denied medical treatment in prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, his lawyer, Iman Soleymani, called the Supreme Court’s decisions arbitrary and erratic. He told HRANA that “the Supreme Court issued its verdict regardless of defendant’s rights, which is in violation of citizen rights and the principle of legality of crime and punishments, the principle of innocence and Article 474 of the Criminal Procedure Code whereby different punishment in degrees for similar charges is not allowed”.

“His request has invoked the recent retrial of nine Christian converts which subsequently led to their acquittal”, he added. In November of last year, Branch 28 of the Supreme Court of Iran announced that promoting Christianity and forming a home church is neither a crime nor an act against national security.

On June 24, 2016, Naser Navard Goltappeh was arrested along with three people of Azerbaijan nationality. All four were interrogated for two months and detained in solitary confinement cells. After four months, they were released on bail of 100 million tomans. The Azerbaijani citizens returned to their country after the release.

Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced Goltappeh to 10 years in prison on the charge of “acting against national security by organizing an illegal home church”. The verdict was upheld on appeal on November 12, 2017.

He is currently serving his sentence in Ward 8 of Evin Prison.

Despite the fact that Christians are recognized as a religious minority under Iranian law, security forces nevertheless harass and prosecute Muslims who convert to Christianity.

The prosecution of Christian converts stands in blatant violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which state that every individual has the right to freedom of religion and belief and freedom to express it openly or secretly.

Inmate on Death Row Dies by Suicide in Lakan Prison

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News, Prisoners
Hossein Besazandi, prisoner suicide, Seyyed Ali Rezai, suicide

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

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

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

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

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

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News, Prisoners
Coronavirus, covid-19, Payam Shakiba, Peyman Gholami, Reza Mazaheri, Saeed Samimi, Seyed Hossein Taghavi

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

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

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

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

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