Setareh Jalai, the mother of Hirad Pirbodaghi, went on a sit-in in front of Evin Courthouse in cold weather on December 5. The strike was in protest of her son’s continued detention and the lack of information regarding his condition. She was informed yesterday by prison and court officials that Pirbodaghi’s case will be taken to court for examination within the next 48 hours. This news is at odds with prior information the court has granted his release on bail.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the workers’ rights activist is still detained and awaiting legal proceedings in Ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran after 30 days.
In phone calls, Pirbodaghi stated that he had been under extreme coercion by security forces to confess.
“Last Saturday, they called her mother to provide the bail of 800 million tomans (189,680 USD). As her mother told me, the letter was issued on November 24, indicating that the security forces had obstructed the execution of this order,” an informed source told HRANA. “When the family went to Evin Courthouse, they were told that for now, the release is not going to happen. On the second day of her sit-down strike, however, Hirad’s mother was told to meet with prison officials”.
In this meeting, she was told that the case will be sent to a branch of the court for examination within the next 48 hours.
On November 6, Pirbodaghi was arrested violently by security forces alongside Asal Mohammadi. Their houses were searched during the arrest. He was transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison, which is at the disposal of the Ministry of Intelligence.
Pirbodaghi was indicted on the charges of “assembly and collusion against national security” on November 7.
Mohammadi was released on bond from Evin Prison on November 22. The reason for his arrest is still unknown at the time of writing.
The day before their arrests, Pirbodaghi and Mohammadi, accompanied by seven other activists, had filed a complaint in a judicial office against the use of solitary confinement as a torture method. Mohammadi and Pirbodaghi have previously faced other arrests and convictions for their non-violent activism and worker’s rights advocacy.
