Tag: January Protests

Mahin-Taj Ahmadpour Ends Hunger Strike after 16 Days

Posted on by Sara
Prisoners
Hunger Strike, January Protests, january protests iran, Mahin-Taj Ahmadpour, prisoner hunger strike

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – On Tuesday, September 25, 2018, political prisoner Mahin-Taj Ahmadpour agreed to end her 16-day hunger strike in exchange for verbal commitments from prison authorities to meet her demands for medical treatment.

Authorities at Nashtaroud Prison of Tonekabon, where Ahmadpour is being held, had previously dismissed her requests for more adequate anemia treatment. A source close to Ahmadpour told HRANA that the authorities have now pivoted, making promises to approve a hospital transfer and medication deliveries from her family. “In addition, they asked her to put in a request for conditional release, and promised to facilitate the processing of the request.”

Ahmadpour had lost 8 pounds by the 10th day of her strike when HRANA reported on prison authorities’ failure to address her deteriorating physical health.

Sentenced to 10 months in prison for her participation in the January protests, Ahmadpour began starving herself September 10th to protest her restricted access to resources, such as medical care and the telephone, and to revolt against prison authorities who reportedly threatened to open new charges against her as a form of coercion or harassment.

Per her treatment plan for anemia, Ahmadpour should receive seven units of blood every month. An informed source told HRANA that monthly blood infusions were also recommended for her as a preventative measure against leukemia. In the face of her diagnosis and supporting medical documentation, however, prison authorities had until now denied Ahmadpour’s requests for outside medication and refused to clear her for a medical transfer.

Mahin-Taj Ahmadpour is a 46-year-old resident of Tonekabon. A peddler by trade, she was arrested along with 14 other residents during widespread rallies that took place in January 2018 across Iran, known as the January Protests. The Revolutionary Court of Tonekabon sentenced eight of these arrestees to 28 months’ imprisonment, divided among the defendants. Branch 101 of Criminal Court No. 2 of Tonekabon, presided over by Judge Ebrahimi, also sentenced six of the arrestees to 24 collective months of prison time.

Ahmadpour was first sentenced May 2, 2018, in Branch 101 of Tonekabon Criminal Court No. 2 to serve a six-month prison sentence on a charge of “disrupting the public peace through participation in an illegal gathering.” On August 11, 2018, Tonekabon’s Revolutionary Court compounded the sentence with four months’ imprisonment for “propaganda against the regime.” As evidence against her, the court cited a combination of law enforcement reports and images and video taken during the January protests in Tonekabon.

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

Posted on by admin-hr
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.

Thirty-Five January Protestors Must Answer to Khoy Court

Posted on by Sara
Freedom of Expression
Abbas Kouchari, Aidin Mohsennejad Khoei, Akbar Jafarpour, Ali Oroujzadeh Amirbeigi, Alireza Jabbari, Amir Ebrahimzadeh Khoei, Amir Mahmoudi, AmirHossein Alinejad, Aref SoltanAlizadeh, Arezoo Sahraei, Hadi HajiAlizadeh Parchlou, Hamed Golvani, Hamed Jafari, Hamid Sadegh, Hatef SoltanAlizadeh, iran human rights, iran protests, January Protests, Majid Mohammadi, Manouchehr GhareMohammadlou, Maryam Asadlou, Mehdi Heidari Aghbash, Mehdi Zamankhani, Milad Hajilou, Milad Mafi Kandi, Mohammad Esmaeil Yekani, Mohammad Ghalaji, Mohammad HajiAllahyari, Mohammad MohsenNejad Khoei, MohammadBagher Abazari, Naser Hajizadeh, Reza Mehrani, Ruhollah Hosseinzadeh, Sadra HajiAligholilou, Shahriar Golvani, Shayan Khalilzadeh, Vahid Jafari, Vahid Rostamlou

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Thirty five residents of Khoy (northwestern Iran) were summoned to Branch One of the city’s Revolutionary Court on Monday, September 10th in connection with their participation in protests that gained exceptional momentum across the country last January.

HRANA was able to confirm the identities of the 35 residents: MohammadBagher Abazari, Amir Ebrahimzadeh Khoei, Ali Oroujzadeh Amirbeigi, Maryam Asadlou, Alireza Jabbari, Akbar Jafarpour, Hamed Jafari, Vahid Jafari, Mohammad HajiAllahyari, Naser Hajizadeh, Hadi HajiAlizadeh Parchlou, Sadra HajiAligholilou, Milad Hajilou, Ruhollah Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Heidari Aghbash, Shayan Khalilzadeh, Vahid Rostamlou, Mehdi Zamankhani, Aref SoltanAlizadeh, Hatef SoltanAlizadeh, Hamid Sadegh, Arezoo Sahraei, AmirHossein Alinejad, Manouchehr GhareMohammadlou, Mohammad Ghalaji, Abbas Kouchari, Hamed Golvani, Shahriar Golvani, Milad Mafi Kandi, Mohammad MohsenNejad Khoei, Majid Mohammadi, Amir Mahmoudi, Reza Mehrani, Aidin Mohsennejad Khoei and MohammadEsmaeil Yekani.

Aidin Mohsenejad Khoei, an additional resident who was not previously detained, has received summons from the same court.

In the throes and final pulses of what came to be known as the “January protests,” various branches of the Iranian security apparatus–including Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Agents, Police, and Criminal Investigation Police–came down on the aforementioned group, subjected them to interim interrogations, and released them on bail pending trial. HRANA reported on the contingent release of these arrestees last March.

The arrestees stand accused of “Assembly and collusion against the internal security of the country,” “Propaganda against the regime,”  “Insulting the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” “Disturbing public conscience,” and “Disturbing public order.” They join the roughly 5,000 Iranian citizens who were detained and interrogated across the country in the tumult of the January protests, which led to the death of 25 individuals. Many who were detained were transferred directly to prison, and the precise whereabouts and fates of a number of them is still unknown.

Ministry of the Interior Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli previously stated that public demonstrations “turned violent” in 40 of the 100 cities where the January protests broke out.