Category: Prisoners

Mojgan Kavousi Finishes 9th Day of Hunger Strike in Evin Prison

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Freedom of Expression, Prisoners, Women
covid-19, Hunger Strike, Mojgan Kavousi, Nowshahr, Women's Ward of Evin Prison

Yesterday, May 24, was the ninth consecutive day of hunger strike for political prisoner Mojgan Kavousi.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Kavousi has been on hunger strike since May 16 in protest of prison officials’ arbitrary behavior sending prisoners on leave during the outbreak of COVID-19.

45-year-old Kavousi is the daughter of Akbar and mother of two girls. Ms. Kavousi is a researcher, translator, and follower of the Yarsan faith.

The activist was arrested by security forces at her home in Nowshahr during the nationwide November Protests of 2019. She was released on a bail and later  sentenced to two years in prison on charges of “inciting the people to disrupt the order and security of the country”.  Ms. Kavousi was banned from leaving the country in September 2019, according to the Nowshahr Intelligence Office.

In May 2020, Kavousi was summoned to the women’s ward of Evin Prison to serve out her sentence, where she has been held since. Kavousi suffers from gastrointestinal disease, hemorrhoids, and cardiac arrhythmias. Given her previous conditions, a hunger strike of this duration could cause permanent damage.

Female Prisoner Kobra Fatemi Executed in Yazd Prison Under Qisas (Eye-for-an-Eye) Principle of Shariah Law

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Executions, Prisoners, Women
death penality in iran, Execution on Women, Fatemi, IHR, Kobra Fatemi, Qisas, Woman executed, Yazd Prison

On May 23, Kobra Fatemi was executed in Yazd Prison on a charge of murder under the Qisas (loosely translated as “eye for an eye”) principle of Shariah Law.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Acvitists, quoting Iran Human Rights (IHR),  41-year-old Fatemi had been in prison since 2015 for the murder of her husband.

Based on the report, an informed source stated: “The victim’s family were going to grant forgiveness but the victim’s paternal uncle, who is a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, insisted that the sentence be carried out and refused diya (blood money) on behalf of the victim’s family.”

“Kobra Fatemi had been married for three years and did not have any children,”  the source added. “Family disputes led her to the murder of her husband,”

According to international organizations, Iran ranks first in the world in citizen executions per-capita. The Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) reported that between January 1st and  December 20th of 2020, at least 236 citizens were executed. One of these citizens was executed publicly, and two were juvenile offenders. An additional 95 citizens were sentenced to death.

The report states that more than 72% of executions in Iran are not reported by the government or the judiciary. Human rights organizations call these “secret executions.”

At the time of writing, her execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran

Narges Mohammadi Sentenced to 30 Additional Months in Prison, Flogging, and Fines

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Freedom of Expression, Prisoners, Women
Death Penalty, death penalty in iran, Evin Prison, Mohammadi, Narges Mohammadi, Political Prisoner, unfair trial, Women's Ward of Evin Prison, Zanjan Prison

On May 19, less than a year after completing a five year sentence and being released from Zanjan Prison, human rights activist Narges Mohammadi was sentenced by Branch 1177 of the Criminal Court in the Quds Judicial Complex in Tehran to 30 more months in prison, 80 lashes, and two fines.

In March, HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, reported that Narges Mohammadi had published an open letter in response to her latest summons to the Evin Courthouse.

“I have not attended any hearing,” Mohammadi said in the letter. “I will not accept the verdict issued by the court and I definitely will disobey.”

According to HRANA, Mohammadi is facing a slew of protest-related charges, including “Propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran through the issuance of a statement against the death penalty”,  “Sit-down strike in the prison office”, “Breaking glass”, “Libel and assault”, and “Rebelling against the prison administration who asked to end the sit-down strike”.

In December 2019, Mohammadi and seven other political prisoners in the women’s ward of Evin Prison announced in a letter that they would go on a sit-down strike in support of bereaved families who lost loved ones in November 2019 national protests. Evin Prison officials threatened to deport Mohammadi and others who participated in the strike to prisons known for their harsher conditions. She was transferred from Evin Prison to Zanjan Prison in December 2019.

After five years and six months in prison, Narges Mohammadi was finally released from Zanjan in October 2020. Mohammadi has since been denied a passport and barred from leaving the country to visit her husband and children even though her previous conviction did not mention a supplementary ban on international travel.

Whether Mohammadi’s latest sentence is carried out given her refusal to accept the charges remains to be seen.

Suleiman Karimpour Sent to Mahabad Prison to Serve out 2-Year Sentence

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Freedom of Expression, Prisoners
irgc, Mahabad Prison, Ministry of Intelligence, Right to a fair trial, Suleiman Karimpour, unfair trial

On May 18, Soleiman Karimpour, a citizen of Mahabad in the West Azerbaijan province, was sent  to Mahabad Prison on charges of “collaborating with one of the opposition parties”.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa,  Karimpour was sentenced by the Mahabad Revolutionary Court to two years in prison, and the confiscation of a private car. The sentence was later upheld by the Court of Appeals.

in September 2020, Suleiman Karimpour was arrested by security forces and later transferred from the IRGC Intelligence Detention Center to Mahabad Prison. He was released on bail in December 2020.

Per the report, Karimpour was denied a lawyer and family visits during his detention.

 

 

Baha’i Women of Baharestan: Sanaz Rasteh and Firoozeh Rastinejad are Temporarily Released, 6 Others Still in Detention

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Freedom of Expression, Prisoners, Religious Minorities, Women
Azita Rezvani, baha'i arrests iran, Baha'i women, Dolatabad Prison, Firoozeh Rastinejad, Mojgan Pourshafi, Noushin Hemmat, Sanaz Rasteh, Sara Shakib, Shola Ashouri, Shurangiz Bahamin

On May 20, Baha’i citizens Sanaz Rasteh and Firoozeh Rastinejad were released on bail from Dolatabad Prison in Isfahan after their arrest in Baharestan.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, 11 Baha’i women, including Rasteh and Rastinejad, were detained by security forces on April 25, April 30, and May 5.

Three of the detained women (Roya Azad Khosh, Nasrin Khademi, and Maryam Khorsandi) were released on bail earlier this week, while six others (Shurangiz Bahamin, Sara Shakib, Azita Rezvani, Mojgan Pourshafi, Noushin Hemmat, and Shola Ashouri) are still in the detention center.

In recent months, the homes of at least 29 Baha’i families have been searched by security forces. During the searches, belongings have been confiscated and, reportedly, in a few cases residents have been beaten.

According to unofficial sources, more than 300,000 Baha’is live in Iran, but the Iranian constitution recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. Because their faith is not considered legitimate by authorities, the rights of Baha’is in Iran have been systematically violated for years.

This deprivation of the freedom to practice their religion is a violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The United Nations covenant holds that every person has the right to freedom of religion, freedom of converting religion, as well as freedom of expression, individually or collectively; openly or secretly.

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Saba Kord Afshari Gives Statement Upon End of Hunger Strike

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Freedom of Expression, Prisoners, Women
HungerStrike, Kord Afshari, Saba, Saba Kord Afshari hunger strike, Saba Kord-Afshari, women political prisoners, women political prisoners in iran, women's rights in iran, Women's Ward of Evin Prison

Saba Kord Afshari, an activist imprisoned in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, has given a statement since ending her hunger strike on May 17.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, 22-year-old Kord Afshari had been on a hunger strike since May 8 to protest the increasing pressure on her family and family of fellow political prisoners, and to demand the release of her mother, Raheleh Ahmadi.

Kord Afshari has written a letter explaining her physical condition and the reasons why she ended the strike. Below is the full letter, which was provided to HRANA to be published:

 

” For years, protests and strikes have been answered with beatings and bullets. For years, when we have opened our mouths to talk about the oppression of our rights and beliefs, the only answers we have received have been arrest, solitary confinement, physical and mental torture, imprisonment, and execution.

It has been years of families seeking justice for the murder and imprisonment of their children, and then receiving nothing but the same treatment.

For years [the regime] has been trying to destroy thoughts, reason, and the right to choose. It has tried to spread dogmatism and to turn its people into unquestioning robots.

But they can never inject us with what is in their rusty brains. They cannot impose upon us the ideas that even they themselves do not believe. They treat our raised fists with guns and weapons, and they destroy the pens that express our beliefs and aspirations.

The same goes for prisons. They use a variety of methods to silence the prisoner, whose only tool to fight is hunger strike and sit-down strike. Demands are met with violence.

 You destroyed our bodies and our pens; but how can you destroy the thoughts that we are not afraid to express? The struggle for freedom does not end with pressure or threats, but instead finds a way to prevail in a stormy environment.

On May 8, 2021, I started a hunger strike demanding an end to the pressure on families of political prisoners and the release of my mother, Raheleh Asl Ahmadi; but unfortunately, my physical condition is not good.

I am fully aware that human lives are of no value to the Islamic Republic, so I am ending my hunger strike, but I am still seeking to fulfill my demands.

Oppression has never lasted and it never will.”

 

Saba Kordafshari / May 17, 2021 / Qarchak prison in Varamin.

Prisoner Executed in Mashhad on Charge of Rape

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Executions, Prisoners
Chief Justice Khorasan Razavi, Death sentence, Execution, Ghasem, Ghasem B., Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, Mashhad Prison

On the morning of May 19, a prisoner who was previously sentenced to death on a charge of rape was executed in Mashhad Prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting the Khorasan newspaper, the 9-year-old child of a foreign national was kidnapped by a young motorcyclist in the outskirts of Mashad in February of last year. The kidnapper abducted the child by threatening him with a knife in front of his mother.

The kidnaper was identified and arrested after detectives found clues that showed he had formed a six-member gang to attack children and teenagers, especially working children.

A special team of detectives with members across operational and intelligence branches managed to arrest all members of the gang. After publishing an unveiled picture of the gang leader in the Khorasan newspaper, several Khorasan residents approached the Iranian Police Criminal Investigation Department, from whom 13 were able to identify the kidnapper and file a lawsuit against him.

Given the importance of the case, Judge Gholam-Ali Sadeghi, Chief Justice of Khorasan Razavi, issued special orders to expedite the investigation. The case was sent to Branch 6 of Criminal Court One to be processed, and the court sentenced the kidnapper to death. The sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court accordingly.

Ghasem. B. was hanged in Mashhad Central Prison on the morning of May 19.

Two Prisoners Executed in Birjand in South Khorasan Province

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Executions, Prisoners
Abdullah Totazehi, Birjand Prison, executions, executions in iran, Secret executions, South Khorasan province, Unreported execution, Younes Totazehi

Yesterday, two prisoners were executed in Birjand Prison in the South Khorasan province.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting the Baloch Activists Campaign, the two citizens have been identified as Younes Totazehi from Chah-e Rahman rural district close to Zahedan city and Abdullah Totazehi son of Sohrab, from Zahedan in Sistan and Baluchestan Province.

Younes and Abdullah Totazehi were arrested in 2019 and sentenced to death on drug related charges.

According to international organizations, considering its population, Iran ranks first in the world in the execution of its citizens. The Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) reported that between January 1st and  December 20th of 2020, at least 236 citizens were executed. One of these citizens was executed publicly, and two were juvenile offenders. An additional 95 citizens were sentenced to death.

More than 72% of executions in Iran are not reported by the government or the judiciary. Human rights organizations call these “secret executions.”

As of this writing, the execution of  the two prisoners has not been announced by any Iranian media or official sources.

Court Trial Held for Baha’i Citizen Kiana Shoaei

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Freedom of Expression, Prisoners, Religious Minorities, Women
Baha'i, baha'i arrests iran, baha'i in iran, Baha'i women, imprisoned baha'is, Kiana Shoaei, Religious Minorities, Religious persecution, Shiraz

The trial of Kiana Shoaei, a Baha’i resident of Shiraz, was held at the Revolutionary Court in Shiraz on May 15.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the trial referred the case to the prosecutor’s office to rectify incomplete documents. Another hearing will be held after the deficiencies are fixed.

Kiana Shoaei was previously summoned to Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz on May 5. In this citation, she was asked to appear at the branch on the 15th regarding a lawsuit that had been lodged against her for “forming dissident groups with the intention to disrupt the security of the country, membership in dissident groups with the intention of disrupting security, and propaganda against the regime”.

Shoaei had been awaiting trial since 2019,  after being arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence in October and released on bail in November of that year.

According to unofficial sources, it is estimated that more than 300,000 Baha’is live in Iran, but the Iranian constitution recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. Because their faith is not considered legitimate by authorities, the rights of Baha’is in Iran have been systematically violated for years.

This deprivation of the freedom to practice their religion is a breach of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The United Nations covenant holds that every person has the right to freedom of religion, freedom of converting religion, as well as freedom of expression, individually or collectively; openly or secretly.

Farzin Rezaei Roshan Transferred to Aminabad Psychiatric Hospital

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Freedom of Expression, Prisoners
Aminabad Psychiatric Hospital, Evin Prison, Farzin Rezaei Roshan, freedom of expression, Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh, Political Prisoner, Rajai Shahr Prison, Roshan

Exiled political prisoner Farzin Rezaei Roshan, who has been held in solitary confinement in Rajai Shahr Prison since May 10, was recently transferred to Aminabad Psychiatric Hospital.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Roshan was sent to Rajai Shahr Prison on the pretext of being transferred to a hospital, and then held in one of its solitary confinement cells until his move to Aminabad.

Roshan was arrested by IRGC intelligence agents in June 2017 and held in Ward 2A of Evin Prison until he was released on bail 8 days later. Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh, sentenced Roshan to four years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the system and assembly and collusion against national security”.

Roshan was arrested and transferred to Evin Prison to endure his sentence in March, 2019. He had been imprisoned until his transfer to Aminabad Psychiatric Hospital, where he currently resides.