On Tuesday, July 20, civil activist Sepideh Gholiyan and political prisoner Mahboubeh Rezaei were severely beaten in Bushehr Prison.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Gholiyan and Rezaei were beaten by prisoners accused of violent crimes in front of prison officials. It is said that the incident happened at the instigation of the head of the women’s ward of the prison, Fatemeh Aliverdi.
Sepideh Gholiyan has been denied the right to make telephone calls for about two months.
“Ms. Gholiyan and Ms. Rezaei were both beaten and threatened with death and for this reason,” an informed source told HRANA. “Sepideh Gholiyan spent the night at a temperature of 117 in the small backyard of the ward. After the threats, Mahboubeh Rezaei submitted a request to be transferred to Shiraz Prison, which was immediately rejected”
Ms. Gholiyan was sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Tehran Court of Appeals in December 2019. Mahboubeh Rezaei was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison by Branch 17 of the Fars Province Court of Appeal, after reduction.
The two citizens have stated that they were tortured by the Ministry of Intelligence and other security forces.