Hossein Afkari, Navid Afkari’s Father, Arrested

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- On May 2, 2023, Hossein Afkari, the father of the late Navid Afkari, a renowned wrestler who was executed on September 12, 2020, has been arrested by security forces.

Saeed Afkari, Hossein Afkari’s son, announced his father’s arrest to the public but did not provide any additional information regarding the circumstances surrounding the arrest.

This is not the first time Hossein Afkari has been detained by security forces. He was previously arrested for a brief period when he attended his son’s burial.

The reason for Afkari’s arrest and the allegations are currently unknown.

Iran Protests: Elham Afkari Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

The Shiraz Revolutionary Court recently sentenced Elham Afkari to five years in prison and barred her from leaving the country and social activities on the Internet for two years. She was previously arrested during recent protests by security forces in Shiraz.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, IRGC-affiliated news agency Tasnim reported that Elham Afkari was sentenced to five years in prison.

Tasnim’s report mentioned the charges as “intention to cause unrest and disruption via spreading the calls for protests on the Internet.” An informed source, however, told HRANA that Afkari and her lawyer have not yet been notified about the issuance of this sentence.

On November 10, 2022, Afkari was arrested in Shiraz. In protest against her arrest, she went on a hunger strike. She is currently jailed in Adel-Abad Prison.

Elham Afkari’s brother, Navid Afkari is a famous wrestler who was executed on September 12, 2020.

Report on the Latest Condition of Afkari Brothers in Adel-Abad Prison

Political prisoners Vahid and Habib Afkari have been held in the “Ebrat” ward in Adel-Abad Prison, Shiraz City, for about 15 months. This notorious ward is used mostly for punishing inmates or to house inmates on death row. 

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the brothers have been denied a phone call and access to adequate medical treatment.

Vahid and Habib Afkari are brothers of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari, who was executed on September 12, 2020 in Adel-Abad Prison despite serious ambiguities in his case and worldwide outcry to halt the execution.

Navid Afkari and Vahid Afkari were arrested in September 2018, and Habib Afkari was arrested in December 2018. The arrests were in connection to nationwide protests in August 2018. The brothers were repeatedly beaten and tortured during interrogations.

In August 2020, Shiraz’s Revolutionary and Criminal Court sentenced Navid Afkari to execution, six years imprisonment and 74 lashes. The court sentenced Vahid Afkari to 54 years, six months in prison and 74 lashes, and Habib Afkari to 27 years and three months imprisonment and 74 lashes.

Their brother, Saeed Afkari, stated on social media that the legal due process to address the torture of their brothers has gone nowhere. In May of this year, a court session was held to address the Afakri’s complaint that they have been beaten, tortured, held for long-term in a solitary confinement cell, and threatened to death by two high-ranking officials. According to Saeed Afakri, his brother Vahid Afkari was not allowed to have access to documents during the court session.

Branch 38 of the Supreme Court of Iran rejected their request for a retrial. Saeed Dehghan, the Afakri brother’s lawyer at that time, wrote that, “even if the judge cared to take a short look at the documents, he would realize that with 24 contradictions and three false statements, there were substantial reasons for retrial”.

Judiciary Announced Shahin Naseri’s Cause of Death as “Drug Poisoning”

In a recent news conference,  Judiciary spokesperson Zabihollah Khodaeyan claimed the Shahin Naseri’s death in prison was caused by ” drug poisoning”, without providing any details.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting IRNA, Shahin Naseri was an eyewitness to the torture of Navid Afkari. On September 21, 2021, he went to Prison healthcare of the Greater Tehran Prison for treatment, where he died mysteriously after 45 minutes.

“In the previous meeting, we said that forensic results have not yet been announced, ” Khodaeyan said in regard to Naseri’s death, “but recently forensic has detected drug poisoning as the cause of death.”

According to fellow inmates and friends close to Shahin Naseri, who had talked to him before his death, he did not express any depressive symptoms or any intention to commit suicide. Rather, he was concerned about his life and health due to the threats he had received in solitary confinement.

After testifying about the torture of Navid Afkari, he was exiled to the Greater Tehran Prison where he was held in solitary confinement for a while.

Two days after Shahin Naseri’s death, Public Relations of Tehran Prisons General Administration said in a statement,  “The inmate was urgently transferred to Prison healthcare, where he was under the resuscitation operation for 45 minutes, but despite the efforts of the medical staff, he died.”

In a voice message recorded before the death of Navid Afkari, Shahin Naseri reveals a part of tortures his fellow inmate has gone through.

“One day when they were taking me to the police station in Shiraz, in the corridor, I heard screams, begging and obscenities,” Naseri says in the recording.  “When I passed along the torture place, I saw that two undercover cops were beating on his face with batons.”

An informed source close to his family told HRANA that in coincide with the anniversary of Navid Afkari’s execution, they relocated him to an unknown location. Based on threats he had received from security forces, we thought he was transferred to a location of a security unit. But a few days ago, we found out that he was held somewhere in the Greater Tehran Prison. Since he did not have any acute background diseases, his death is quite suspicious.

“I heard clearly that they told him that you should write down and confess whatever we tell you,” Naseri added in the recorded message. “When I went to Security Court for testifying, I told the Branch Investigator about his torture. He said with slanderous words that ‘you are meddling in a security case. I will force the agents to file a complaint against you for these accusations. If you play with fire you are going to get burnt.'”

Navid Afkari was an Iranian wrestler who, despite serious ambiguities in his case and worldwide outcry to halt the execution, was executed on September 13, 2019, in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz.

Saeed Afkari Beaten and Arrested on the Anniversary of the Execution of Navid Afkari

On Sunday, September 12, Saeed Afkari, the brother of Navid Afkari, was beaten and arrested by six plainclothes officers and taken to an unknown location in Shiraz.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, he was released after a couple of hours.

Mr. Afkari tweeted the day before that the security forces were pressuring the Afkari family to stop Navid Afkari’s execution anniversary. Following this tweet, Mr. Afkari’s twitter account has become unavailable.

It is also said that during Mr. Afkari’s arrest, security forces beat his sister, Elham Afkari.

Navid, Vahid, and Habib Afkari were arrested in 2018 in connection with the nationwide protests in August 2018. The brothers have been repeatedly beaten and tortured during interrogations. Navid Afkari, an Iranian wrestler, was executed at Adelabad Prison in Shiraz at dawn on September 12, 2020. Habib and Vahid have been sentenced to long imprisonment.

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Vahid Afkari’s Request for Retrial Rejected by Supreme Court

Political prisoner Vahid Afkari’s request for retrial was recently rejected by the Supreme Court.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Afkari  is currently imprisoned in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz.

Saeid Dehghan, the lawyer for the Afkari Brothers, wrote in a note on his social media, “Even if they had just skimmed and scanned the case document, there were enough legal reasons to accept a retrial as the verdict contains 24 contradictions and 3 lies.” Dehghan went on to ask, incredulously,  “25 years imprisonment only based on the Judge’s knowledge and without observing Article 211 of the Penal Code?”

Navid Afkari and Vahid Afkari were arrested in September 2018, and Habib Afkari was arrested in December 2018 in connection with the nationwide protests in August 2018. The brothers  have been repeatedly beaten and tortured during interrogations.

After being tried by the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz’s Criminal Court, Navid Afkari was sentenced to 2 death sentences, six years and 6 months imprisonment, and 74 lashes, Vahid Afkari was sentenced to 54 years and 6 months imprisonment and 74 lashes, and Habib Afkari was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison and 74 lashes.

Despite the serious flaws in the basis of the case against the brothers, and despite a wave of worldwide support for him and calls for authorities to halt the execution, one of the three brothers, Navid Afkari, an Iranian wrestler, was executed at Adelabad Prison in Shiraz at dawn on September 12, 2020.

That same month, Vahid and Habib Afkari were transferred to the isolated ward of Ebrat which is a detention center for prisoners deprived of telephone contact.

Hassan Younesi, one of the Afkari brothers’ lawyers, said in late September of last year, “After the execution of Navid Afkari, Vahid and Habib are not being held in the public ward, and their families and lawyers have not had any (free) meetings with the Afkari brothers.”

Previously, Saeid Afkari, Vahid’s brother, had reported on his social media that he had met with Habib and Vahid Afkari and that they were being held “in solitary confinement, without the right of contact and the right to medical treatment”.

“According to the prison guidelines, convicts should only be kept in public wards under the supervision of the Prisoners’ Organization,” Younesi previously said. “Also, according to the same rules, keeping the accused in detention centers will be possible only with a written order from the judicial authorities, and keeping Habib and Vahid Afkari outside the public prison without meeting (freely) is against the law.”

In May of this year, an interrogation session was held in connection with the Afkari brothers’ complaint about being beaten, long-term solitary confinement, and death threats by two officials. According to Saeid Afkari, the hearing was held in the presence of Vahid Afkari without access to the files and documents of the defendants.