A Report on 9 Prisoners with Life Imprisonment Sentences

HRANA News Agency – Seven political prisoners with a life sentence in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, have been held since 12 to 23 years ago without furlough in the prison.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), seven political prisoners, namely Mohammad Nazari, Karim Maroof Aziz, Omar Faghihpour, Khaled Fereidoni, Said Masouri, Afshin Baymany and Hamzeh Savari, respectively, have been held for 23, 20, 17, 16, 16, 16 and 12 years and have a total of 120 years of imprisonment.
Mohammad Nazari, son of Hamdullah, born in 1971 was arrested in Buchanan in 1994, and was charged with collaborating with one of the Kurdish opposition parties and in an opaque judiciary process was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Mr. Nazari believes his conviction was based on false confessions obtained under torture.
The ill political prisoner, despite his physical problems, has not been able to use medical furlough in the past 23 years. He is currently in Rajai Shahr prison in exile.
Karim Maroof Aziz, Iraqi citizen, has been held in various prisons in Iran for about 20 years. Not long ago, he was transferred from Rajai Shahr prison for exchanging with Iraq, but after about 54 days he was returned to Hall 12 of Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj for unknown reasons.
It is to say that this political prisoner is suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure, he also suffers from complication of heart disease, and during his imprisonment he has had 20 operations inside the prison and has experienced an open heart surgery.
Omar Faghihpour was arrested in 1999 and was charged with acting against national security and waging war through having relationship with the Democratic Party of Kurdistan, and had been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in Mahabad, and then by the court of appeal, his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment with a degree of discount.
At the time of his arrest he had a three-year-old daughter.
Mr. Faghihpour was held in the prisons of Piranshahr, Mahabad and Urmia, after his arrest till his sentence was issued, and then he was transferred to Rajai Shahr prison.
Khaled Fereydooni was arrested in September 2000 on charges of acting against national security and waging war through having relationship with the Democratic Party of Kurdistan, and was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in Mahabad, and after three and a half years living under the shadow of death penalty, in the court of appeal, his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment with a degree of discount.
Mr. Fereydouni was held in the prisons of Piranshahr, Mahabad and Urmia, and then was transferred to Rajai Shahr prison. Despite the admissibility of parole and furlough, he is still held in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj.
Said Masouri, born in 1965, was in Norway in order to continue his education until his family was informed that he was arrested by the Intelligence and National Security agents on his return to Iran in Dezful in May 2001. It should be noted that Mr. Masouri was arrested in January 2000, but in May 2001, his family was informed of his arrest.
Said Masouri with Gholamhossein Kalbi were arrested in Dezful on charge of holding relations with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran and up to this point have been held without any leave in Ahwaz Intelligence Detention Centre, Evin and Rajai Shahr prisons.
Mr. Massouri was sentenced to death in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court in 2002, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Said Masouri was held in solitary confinement for 14 months in Ahvaz’s Intelligence Office since his arrest, and then he was transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison.
This political prisoner has gone on hunger strike for several times to protest against the prison officials’ and security forces’ illegal acts, and has a history of physical injury and deprivation of medical care in prison as well.
Afshin Baymany, political prisoner in Hall 12 of Rajai Shahr prison, in Karaj, was arrested on September 5, 2000, and was sentenced to death on charge of helping his brother “Mehdi Baymany”, who had relations with People’s Mojahein Organization of Iran, to escape, then the sentence was confirmed on the appeal stage but it was commuted to life imprisonment after 6 years.
The long period of imprisonment for Afshin Baymany, who is married and the father of two children, in addition to physical problems such as heart disease and kidney problems, has also created a lot of serious problems for his family. He now faces the risk of heart attack due to Coronary Heart Disease, and has been sent to hospital couple of times.
Hamzeh Savari, born in 1989 in Behbahan and resident of Ahvaz, was arrested while he was a 16-year-old teenager along with his two brothers named Mohammad Ali and Jaffer, on charge of “forming a cultural institution”, on September 2, 2005.
These three brothers were under torture during their interrogations to confess their involvement in bombings and later his two brothers were executed. Hamzeh was also sentenced to death, but the sentence was reduced.
He is charged with acting against national security, enmity against God and corruption on earth by Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz and sentenced to life imprisonment and then he was exiled from Karoon prison in Ahwaz to Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj.

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