HRANA News Agency – After one year of detention, Omid Alishenas is being still kept in ward number 8 of Evin prison.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Omid Alishenas, imprisoned civil right activist and prisoner of ward number 8 of Evin prison, is still being kept under detention although a bail has been issued for him already.
Simin Ayvaz Zadeh, Omid Alishenas’s mother, told to HRANA’s reporter, “In the first month of his arrest we had been told that it would take one week. After two weeks, the prosecutor, Mr. Khorshidi told me that a hundred million Tomans bail had issued and he could be released”.
She continued, “The next day that we prepared the bail, we were told that he would remain for a while, and would not be released on that day”. She added, “Through all this year and during our follow ups, we mentioned that bail was issued and keeping him in prison was illegal, and sometimes they said it too. But any way they have not released him”.
Ayvaz Zadeh explained to HRANA’s reported regarding the court session that “His court session was conducted and Judge Moghiseh sentenced Omid to 10 years in prison on branch 28 of the revolutionary court. We appealed and the appeal court branch has defied. The case is sent to branch number 36 of the revolutionary court by chief judge Zargar and will be processed there. I went to this branch many times. Mr. Zargar does not have visits. He has a colleague with the name of Ghominejad. I talked to Mr. Ghominejad two times about the bail”. “He said that the bail had to be put on the primary court and I said, we had been told there that the bail should had been put on the appeal court. In the court I was told that the primary court will take the bail. Now you are saying it has to be taken there. They told me to go to the primary court and, sent back the document. I went to the office of judge Moghiseh and they told me that the appeal court should take the bail and it was out of their power to take the bail. We have been circulating again and again for the whole year”.
Simin Ayvazi Zadeh answered to a question regarding the date of the appeal could that has been scheduled: “There is no actual date. They say we cannot say anything to you, because we have plenty of cases and we need to process them in order”.
She said, “Omid is still in limbo. They are refusing to accept the bail, while they can, and they have done it previously. They can release him till his court session, but they do not”.
Simin Ayvaz Zadeh answered to a question regarding the process of the case, “They do works differently for close people and they do not go to jail, until the final sentence is issued. Even after they submission to the jail, they get furlough. Any way their condition is different from our children”.
Simin Ayvaz Zadeh said about the condition of the ward that his child is kept in, “Omid is still in ward number 8 and does not have good condition. The number of criminal prisoners of the ward has been reduced but still their problems persist. Also, the number of prisoners is more than the capacity of the ward. It is better in comparison to the past, but it is still too high”.
The mother of this civil right activist said about the investigations of the ward, “Inspections are arbitrary and make a mess in the room. Two weeks ago, they were searching the room. Prisoners are being sent to the yard on this type of situation. When they had said that these were the beds of political prisoners, they destroyed Omid’s and another prisoner’s bed and took all of the food they had, all of them with a very insulting manner. After they were back from the yard, Omid wrote a complaint to the head of the prison”. “These are not intentional and soldiers are doing whatever they want. Usually when they say this is political prisoners’ ward, they do not search it, because they are looking for drugs. But sometime, these happen”.
Simin Ayvazi Zadeh explained about the food of the ward, “Food condition is really bad. Prisoners are living on their own expenses and in fact, the families of prisoners are paying for them”.
Mother of Omid Alishenas responded to the question of is there any date for ending this limbo, “No time has been announced. Their excuse is that if they announce, families would come and make difficulties. This is while during the court the family and lawyers were available”.
Omid Alishenas was arrested on September 4, 2014 and transferred to ward 2-A.
He was charged with propaganda against the regime, collusion, acts against the national security and insulting the supreme leader for his peaceful activities, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His trial session along with three other civil rights activists took less than 15 minutes in branch number 28 of the revolutionary court, with chief judge Moghiseh and they received the accumulation of 38 years in prison.
According to the prosecutor’s file, cyber activities and publishing critical context regarding the human rights and death sentences in Iran, sympathy with the families of political prisoners and families of prisoners on death row, attending the rally in solidarity with Kobani, sympathy with the families of victims of 2009 events and being in contact with human rights activists, are the allegations against this prisoner.
According to HRANA’s legal consultant, the verdict has tremendous legal mistakes and a chance in the appeal court would be highly expected if the court would be held fair.
According to HRANA, ward number 8 is currently one of the worst wards in Evin prison where many political prisoners are kept with normal and even dangerous prisoners.