Tag: Iran

University of Tehran Student Soha Mortezaei Sentenced to Six Years’ Imprisonment

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Freedom of Expression, Prisoners, Students
Human Rights, Iran, iran human rights, iran protests, January Protests, soha mortezaei, student

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Graduate student in humanities and Secretary of Tehran University Central Student Union Soha Mortezaei– who was among those arrested amid the 2018 “January protests”– has been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment and a two-year ban on membership in political parties, groups, and gatherings by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided by Judge Ahmadzadeh.

Mortezaei’s name figured in HRANA’s January 6, 2018 report on citizens apprehended during the aforementioned protests, which gained countrywide momentum and were met with considerable violence form authorities. She was detained for her inquiries into the status and wellbeing of detained fellow students who had participated along with her in the demonstrations.

Mortezaei had a previous run-in with authorities, in a wave of arrests that took place in January of 2015. She was arrested along with Amirkabir and Allameh Tabatabai University student activists Zahra Khandan, Fershteh Tusi, and Parastou Biranvand. One month later, she was released.

The January Protests led to large number of arrests and interrogations across the country. While the protests began on December 29, 2017 in the city of Mashhad, the unrest quickly spread to other cities. Thousands were detained and at least 25 died in skirmishes between protesters and security forces.

Five More Baha’i Citizens Arrested in Shiraz

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Religious Minorities
baha'i in iran, Human Rights, Iran, iran human rights, religious minorities in iran

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Authorities associated with Iran’s intelligence ministry arrested five Baha’i citizens this weekend – September 15th and 16th – in the central Iranian city of Shiraz.

The first three Baha’i citizens – Elaheh Samizadeh, and married couple Navid Bazmandegan and Bahareh Ghaderi – were arrested and taken to an undisclosed location on Saturday. On Sunday morning, Baha’i citizens Ehsan Mahboob Rahvafa and Noora Pourmoradian were arrested and taken to a detention center run by the city’s intelligence department.

Bazmandegan was arrested at 6 p.m. while teaching a psychology class, a credible source told HRANA. According to the source, while Bazmandegan was being interrogated in different room, authorities filmed the students, taking their identification cards, computers, flash drives, mobile phones, and the passwords to their mobile devices. All those present were asked to sign a document they were prohibited from reading in its entirety, and told to clear the area within 10 minutes.

Bazmandegan was subsequently escorted to his home, where authorities conducted a search and seized his personal belongings. His wife Bahare was also arrested and transferred to an undisclosed location.

Last month, HRANA reported on the arrest of a number of Baha’i Shiraz residents who were taken to the same detention center.

Baha’is are Iran’s largest non-Muslim minority and are systematically persecuted by the government.

Innocent Man Dies After Police Beating

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Prisoners
Hojat Eghtesadi, Human Rights, Iran, iran human rights, prison death, prison violence, prisoner death

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – On September 11th, Hojat Eghtesadi died after being beaten by police, who contend that his cause of death was a heart attack.

Eghtesadi, a native of the city of Malekan in East Azerbaijan Province (northwestern Iran), had been admitted to Bonab county’s Imam Khomeini hospital for self-inflicted wounds. Upon his discharge, he was experiencing the side effects of intravenous tranquilizers when he crossed paths with the guards on duty.

“On his way out of the hospital, he got into an altercation with hospital security. The police were called, and he was arrested and taken to Bonab county police station,” said a source close to Eghtesadi’s family. “I don’t know what happened there that led to the beating, but it cost him his life.”

The police asked Eghtesadi’s family to come recover his body from the police station the following day, alleging he had died of a heart attack. At the sight of his body, his family said they noted copious bruising that was distinct from his self-inflicted wounds.

Iranian detention centers require round-the-clock supervision, yet deaths of those taken into custody are common. Detainee deaths are rarely followed up by judicial investigation, third-party inquiries, or measures to hold perpetrators accountable.

Blackballed Baha’is: 40 and Counting

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Religious Minorities, Students
Bahai Students, bbaha'is in iran, Human Rights, Iran, iran human rights, Religious Minorities, right to education

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HHRANA) – HRANA has so far confirmed the names of at least 40 Baha’i Iranian citizens who have been denied the opportunity to enroll in university despite successfully placing on the competitive national admissions test.

HRANA has confirmed that the candidate files of Nima Amini, Hanan Hashemi Dehaj, Hasti Maleki, Aria Ehsani, Tina Hamidi Fard from Tehran (ranked #15000 on the national exam) and Rozhan Khooniki (ranked #9477) have all been flagged “deficiency on file” on the National Organization for Educational Testing website. HRANA previously reported the names of 34 other students singled out by the same system.

The “deficiency on file” flag is one known method of the wider anti-Baha’i discrimination politics administered by Iran’s Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. An informed source confirmed to HRANA that the flag is a go-to excuse to prevent Baha’i students from entering institutes of higher education.

Azerbaijani Activist Abbas Lasani Spurns Text-Message Summons

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Ethnic Minorities
Abbas Lasani, azerbaijani activist, ethnic minority, Human Rights, Iran, iran human rights

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Abbas Lasani, an Azerbaijani activist and former political prisoner, will not be responding to the SMS he received from Branch 2 of Tabriz Revolutionary Court.
A resident of Ardabil in northwestern Iran–home to the country’s Azerbaijani ethnic minority–Lasani said that due to authorities’ spurious method of summoning him, he refused to attend the hearing scheduled for him on Tuesday, September 18th.
“Even ignoring the suspect intent of this summons, their delay in sending it, and the timing of the hearing on [the eve of the Muharram holidays]– it’s impossible to ignore that the summons is illegitimate, arriving by text message with no official hard copy,” Lasani said. “Appropriate preparations can’t be made in these circumstances.”
Lasani and three other Azerbaijani activists were first arrested by Intelligence agents on July 2, 2018, a few days before an annual gathering at Babak Fort, a site that has acquired symbolic importance for Azerbaijani rallies in recent years. Prior to his arrest, he had shared a video encouraging people to attend the gathering. He was released on $3,500 USD (500 million IRR) bail July 11, 2018.
Lasani was among the first of more than 80 Azerbaijani activists arrested throughout Ardabil, West Azerbaijan, and East Azerbaijan provinces at the time of the Babak Fort gathering.
Amnesty International issued a statement on August 5th of this year, calling the arrests of Azerbaijani activists “arbitrary” and unlawful, and demanded the immediate release of all individuals detained for their participation in Azerbaijani Turkic cultural gatherings.

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Parliamentarians from various countries demand the release of six HR defenders

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Freedom of Expression
Human Rights, Iran

HRANA- Following on from the March 2nd campaign, Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) has announced that a number of parliamentarians from various countries, including the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Canada, demand the unconditional release of Iranian human rights defenders who were arrested on 2nd March 2010 and are currently still imprisoned. Continue reading “Parliamentarians from various countries demand the release of six HR defenders”

Baha’i Citizens interrogated upon return to Iran

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Religious Minorities
Baha'i, Iran, Religious Minorities

HRANA News Agency – In the past few months, a number of Baha’i citizens have been interrogated by the authorities after returning to Iran from Turkey.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Iranian intelligent officers have questioned Baha’i citizens at the airport and inspected their belongings in different occasions.

Continue reading “Baha’i Citizens interrogated upon return to Iran”

Political Activist remains in custody without being charged

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Prisoners
Evin Prison, Iran, Political Prisoner, Reza Akbari-Monfared

HRANA News Agency – Reza Akbari-Monfared has been in custody for four months without being formally charged with any crimes.  Akbari-Monfared is a political activist whose family members were executed during the mass killings of 1980s in Iran.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Akbari-Monfared was arrested on Jan. 15, 2013 together his son, Ali, and has been locked up in Ward 209 of Evin Prison ever since.  His sister, Maryam, was arrested during the protests following the 2009 presidential elections in Iran and sentenced to 15 years in prison.  His son, Ali, was released from prison last March after posting bail.
Akbari-Monfared was a political prisoner in 1980s, and four members of her family were executed during the same time.  Ali-Reza, 20, Gholam-Reza, 26, Roghihe, 30, and Abdual-Reza, 23, were all hanged in the 80s.