Category: Prisoners

Nobel Laureates and Prominent Academics Demand Immediate Release of Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi

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Freedom of Expression, News, Prisoners
Ali Younesi, Amirhossein Moradi, nobel, Randy Wayne Schekman

In a joint letter, a group of Nobel laureates and prominent academics urged Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to ask that the Iranian regime release two detained Iranian students, Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on the 18 January, in a joint letter, 16 Nobel laureates and prominent scholars called for the immediate release of Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi.

Earlier, on May 15, 2020, in an open letter, several Nobel laureates asked UN high commissioner, Michelle Bachelet to put efforts to ensure the immediate release of the two students.

Professor Noam Chomsky (linguist and philosopher), Randy Wayne Schekman ( Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2013), Barry Barish (Nobel Laureate in Physics in 2017) and Richard John Roberts (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1993) are among the writers of this letter.

On April 10, 2020, these two Sharif University of Technology students were violently arrested. Since the arrest, they have been subjected to torture-tainted interrogations to make forced confessions on television.

Amir Hossein Moradi is the winner of the silver medal of the National Astronomy Olympiad in 2017. Ali Younesi is the winner of the silver medal of the National Astronomy Olympiad in 2016 and the gold medal of the 2017 Astronomy Olympiad. Ali Younesi also won a gold medal in the 12th World Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in China.

Iran Farda Editor Keyvan Samimi Transferred from Evin Prison to an Unidentified Location

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News, Prisoners
Farda, Iran Farda, Iranian Writers Association, Keyvan Samimi

Keyvan Samimi, the editor of Iran Farda Magazine and a member of the Iranian Writers’ Association, was transferred from Evin Prison to an unidentified location. He is currently serving his two year sentence in Evin Prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Emtedad, prison officials removed Samimi from his ward on the pretext of addressing a problem with his phone card, and transferred him to an unknown location.

Since Branch 54 of the Revolutionary Court ordered his exile from Evin Prison to one of the prisons in Alborz Province, it is likely they have sent him to an exile prison. This order stands at odds with a forensic medical assessment that he should be granted “intolerance of punishment”. This recommendation was rejected by the court after four months.

Samimi has been serving his two-year sentence since December 7, 2020.

On May 1, 2019, he attended the workers’ protests on the anniversary of Labour Day before Parliament. The protest turned violent due to the interference of security forces, leading to his arrest along with dozens of other protestors. On May 12, 2019, security forces raided and searched the Iran Farda magazine office and confiscated many documents including his computer. On June 17, 2019, he finally was released on bail until the end of legal proceedings.

On April 20, 2020, in a trial in absentia, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, sentenced him to three years imprisonment on the charge of “assembly and collusion to act against national security”. The verdict was upheld on appeal, but was reduced to two years in the retrial.

Samimi had also previously endured six years in prison in 2009 for questioning the 2009 Presidential Election, participating in protests, and writing articles critical of the Islamic Regime. His two political activists brothers were executed, one by this regime and the other by the former regime.

Jailed French Tourist Benjamin Briere Summoned to Appear in Court After 600 Days in Jail

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News, Prisoners
Benjamin Briere, saeed dehghan

On January 20, the trial of jailed French tourist Benjamin Briere will be held for the first time after 600 days in jail awaiting legal proceedings.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Briere is French citizen who has been jailed in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad City.

His lawyer, Saeed Dehghan, confirmed that the court session will be held and that his client will defend himself in court against the charges of “spying” and “propaganda against the regime”. Two other charges of “spreading corruption on earth” and “alcohol drinking” have already been dismissed by the court.

In May 2020, Briere was arrested by security forces and has since been jailed in Vakilabad Prison.

According to Dehghan, these charges were based on actions such as taking aerial photos with a remote-controlled helicam and posing questions like “why is the veil (Hijab) forced in Iran but not other Islamic countries”.

“Despite so many ambiguities and contradictions in this case, as his lawyer, I have been denied any access to the documents, which is disastrous,” Dehghan told HRANA.

Khaled Freidooni Granted Furlough After 21 Years In Prison

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News, Prisoners
Khaled Fereidooni

On January 16, political prisoner Khaled Freidooni was granted furlough for the first time after spending 21 years in prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Freidooni was dispatched to furlough from Urmia Prison.

On August 31, 2000, Freidooni was arrested and charged with “acting against national security” and “enmity against God (Moharebeh) through association with an anti-regime political party”. The Revolutionary Court of Mahabad sentenced him to death. After three and half years, this verdict was reduced to live imprisonment on appeal.

During this period, Freidooni has been jailed in Piranshahr, Mahabad and Urmia prisons. In 2007, he went into exile in Rajai Shahr Prison. After ten years, he was sent back to Urmia Prison.

The Court of Appeals Upheld the Order of Seizure of Fatemeh Mosanna and Hassan Sadeghi’s House

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Freedom of Expression, News, Prisoners
Fatemeh Mosanna, Ferdos Mahboobi, government seizure of personal property, Hassan Sadeghi, politcal prisoners

The Court of Appeals of Tehran Province upheld the initial order to seize the personal property of two political prisoners, Fatemeh Mosanna and Hassan Sadeghi. Recently, agents of Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order seized the couple’s house. The two prisoners have been sentenced by the Revolutionary Court to a combined 30 years in prison, seizure of personal properties, namely their shop and house. In March 2019, their place of business was seized by court order.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the Court of Appeals of Tehran Province upheld the order to seize the house of Mosanna and Sadeghi, who are currently serving time in Rajai Shahr. Currently, their children and Mosanna’s mother are residing in the house. It is their only shelter. Mosanna’s 90 year mother, Ferdos Mahboobi, was operated on three times in recent years and suffers from dementia and osteoporosis.

“The agents went to their house with an eviction order. They told the agents: “this house is the last thing you have left for us, and if you want eviction, you have to throw our stuff into the street,” an informed source told HRANA.

The whole family was arrested, on January 28, 2013, following the funeral of Sadehgi’s father, a dissident against the regime. Their daughter and son, who was underage, were also arrested and interrogated. They were released after three days and 45 days respectively.

Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced each member of the couple to 15 years in prison and the seizure of personal property (both shop and house). This verdict was upheld on appeal.

On September 30, 2015, Mosanna was arrested and sent to Evin Prison to endure her sentence. On February 7, 2016, Sadeghi was arrested and sent to Rajai Shahr Prison after he went to Evin Prison to visit his wife.

Currently, Sadeghi is spending the ninth year of his sentence. His request for a retrial, for both him and his wife, has been dismissed twice by the Branch 33 of the Supreme Court of Iran.

In May of 2021, Mosanna was dispatched to a hospital from prison due to intestinal bleeding.

In 1980, while Mosanna was only 13 years old, she was arrested along with her mother and jailed for three years. During this period, her three brothers Ali, Mostafa and Morteza as well as the wife of one of her brothers were executed in prison for the charge of “enmity against God” and “advocating for The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran”.

Sadeghi was arrested in 1981 and jailed for six years. He was beaten harshly in prison by prison agents. He still suffers from the effects. Despite currently suffering from glaucoma, heel bone fracture in both feet, and ulcer, he has been denied adequate medical treatment and hospitalization outside the prison for no compelling reason.

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French-Iranian Academic Fariba Adelkhah Arrested and Sent Back to Evin Prison

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News, Prisoners
Fariba Adelkhah, Jalal Ruhollah-Nejad, Kazem Gharib-Abadi

Kazem Gharib-Abadi, Deputy Minister for International Affairs of the Judiciary, announced that French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah was sent back to Evin Prison from house arrest due a breach of electronic tag rules.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting ISNA, Adelkhah was arrested by security forces at her home in Tehran on June 7, 2019. Her colleague Roland Marchal, who had travelled to Iran in order to visit Adelkhah, was also arrested upon arrival at the Tehran Airport. On March 20, 2020, in a prisoner swap agreement, Marshal was released from jail and returned Paris in exchange for Jalal Ruhollah-Nejad, who was jailed in France.

In May 2020, Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced Adelkhah to six and a half years in prison on the charge of “propaganda against the regime” and “assembly and collusion against national security”. The verdict was upheld on appeal. Five years of imprisonment is enforceable per Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, which states that  from several verdicts, only the severest is enforceable.

She was transferred from Evin Prison to Ward 209, at the disposal of the Ministry of Intelligence, on September 17, 2020, for unknown reasons and despite being already convicted. On October 3, 2020, she was released from jail to spend the rest of her sentence on house arrest with an electronic tag.

Fariba Adelkhah is a French-Iranian anthropologist who graduated from University Marc Bloch in Strasbourg and the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences. She has been working for years as a researcher at the Centre for International Research of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po). She has authored several books.

The Latest Report on Reza Mazaheri in Evin Prison

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News, Prisoners
Reza Mazaher

On January 11, political prisoner Reza Mazaheri was summoned by Evin Courthouse to face another legal case, while already serving a two year sentence in Evin Prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Mazaheri has been charged with “spreading lies” in a new legal case and summoned by Branch 3 of the Evin Prosecutor’s Office. The resident of Tehran has been serving his sentence in Evin Prison since December 5, 2021.

On December 29, 2018, the security forces arrested Mazaheri. After being indicted by Branch 2 of Evin Prosecutor’s Office, he was jailed in Ward 4 of Evin Prison. On April 15, 2019, he was released from jail on bail of 2 billion tomans (475,910 USD)  pending further legal proceedings.

On March 15, 2020, the Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced him to two years in prison on the charges of “propaganda against the regime” and “spreading lies”. This verdict was upheld by Branch 36 of Tehran’s court of appeals.

On December 5, 2021, he was arrested and transferred to the Quarantine Ward 4 of Evin Prison. Last Tuesday, he was relocated to Ward 8 of the prison.

Ebrahim Seddigh Hamedani Transferred to Solitary Confinement While Still on Hunger Strike

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News, Prisoners
Ebrahim Seddigh Hamedani, Hunger Strike, Maryam Seddigh Hamedani, Salar Seddigh Hamedani, solitary confinement

Political prisoner Ebrahim Seddigh Hamedani was transferred to a solitary confinement cell in Marivan Prison while still on hunger strike.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Hamedani and his son Salar Seddigh Hamedani have been on hunger strike for more than 11 days in protest against the housing of political prisoners in the same ward as prisoners of violent crime, which is in violation of prison regulations.

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

An informed source HRANA that his health has been affected by the ward and by the hunger strike: “Considering that he suffers from diabetes, his health condition was exacerbated due to the continuation of the hunger strike. He has told to his family that most of his fellow prisoners in his ward use drugs which makes him exposed to drug pollution”.

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 to 16 years imprisonment on the charges such as “acting against national security through membership in one of the anti-regime organizations” and “propaganda against the regime.”

In August of 2020, while they were spending their sentence terms, they were relocated to the detention centre of the Ministry of intelligence in Urmia city and interrogated for allegedly “propaganda against the regime inside prison.” Subsequently, a new legal case was opened against them.

In 2005, Ebrahim Seddigh Hamedani had earlier been sentenced to six years imprisonment for the same charges. He was released after serving two and a half years of his sentence on probation.

Fariba Asadi Arrested and Sent to Qarchak Prison to Serve One Year Sentence

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News, Prisoners
Fariba Asadi, Masoud Vazifeh, Mehran Delfan-Azari, Meysam Gholami, Varamin

On January 10, Fariba Asadi, resident of Tehran, was arrested at home and transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin City to serve her sentence. She has been sentenced to one year in prison by Shahriar’s Revolutionary Court.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Asadi was arrested by security forces in February 2021, along with Mehran Delfan Azari, Meysam Gholami and Masoud Vazifeh. They were arrested on charges of “propaganda against the regime” and “membership in an anti-regime group”

On October 2, 2021, Branch 2 of Shriar’s Revolutionary Court sentenced Vazifeh to six months on the charge of “abetting in propaganda against the regime” and the three others to one year on the charge of “propaganda against the regime.”

From them, Asadi was released on bail. The other three were sent to Greater Tehran Prison at the end of legal proceedings. Perviously, Masoud Vazifeh and Meysam Gholami were released from jail after completing their sentences.

Baktash Abtin, Jailed Writer and Poet, Dies of COVID-19

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Freedom of Expression, News, Prisoners
Baktash Abtin, Coronavirus, COVID, IWA, Lack of medical care in prison

On January 8, Baktash Abtin, a prisoner of conscience, writer and member of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA), died of COVID-19 in the hospital. On December 6, 2021, after showing severe COVID-19 symptoms, he was dispatched from Evin Prison to a hospital in Tehran. After a few days, he was sent to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as his condition deteriorated and his life was threatened.

In an open statement, IWA called the regime responsible for Abtin’s critical health condition by denying him adequate and on-time medical treatment and hospitalization.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Abtin was a poet, filmmaker and writer. The IWA expressed grave concern for his wellbeing, stating that “the regime is responsible for whatever happens to the imprisoned writers, especially Baktash Abtin. The regime has deliberately endangered the life of political prisoners. They have to be set free before it is too late, especially that we all know that they are innocent of any wrongdoing and deserve no punishment whatsoever”.

In reaction to his death, in a new statement, IWA called it a murder committed by the regime and stated:

“On December 3, with the onset of clear COVID-19 symptoms, Baktash Abtin went to Evin [Prison’s] healthcare. However, he did not receive any treatment. After three days, when his health condition worsened, prison officials had to dispatch him to a hospital overnight without informing his family.”

Abtin’s death prompted a wave of reactions from social media, news outlets and human rights organizations. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) stated: “The writer and journalist had been unjustly sentenced to 6 years in prison and was in detention in hospital, ill with COVID-19 & deprived of the necessary care. RSF blames the high regime’s authorities for his death.”

Abtin was in Evin Prison where he contracted COVID-19. On May 15, 2019, Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced him to one year in prison on the charge of “propaganda against the regime” and 5 years on the charge of “assembly and collusion to act against the national security”. On September 26, 2020, along with two other IWA members, he was sent to Evin Prison to serve his sentence.

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 Jafar Pouyandeh, were murdered.