Sunni Prisoner Hamzeh Darvish Sentenced to Two Years and One Month In Prison

In a new case recently opened against him, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht sentenced Sunni prisoner Hamzeh Darvish to two years and one month iin prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Darvish is currently serving a 15 year sentence in Lakan prison, and was sentenced to two years and one month in prison in a new legal case.

In this verdict, he has been sentenced to 18 months on the charge of “offensive statements against the supreme leader of Iran” and seven months and sixteen days on the charge of “propaganda against the regime”. This verdict was issued on March 5, and he was notified yesterday, March 9.

This case was opened following complaints by the Ministry of Intelligence regarding audio of Darvish that circulated on social media. In this audio recording, Darvish explains his condition in prison.

Darvish claims that in 2014, ISIS troops tricked him into Turkey and then he travelled to Syria. He had been in ISIS jail for some time, then escaped to Iran and introduced himself to security forces.

After spending a year in detention, he was released on bail. However, he was arrested again and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in a trial which raised many questions. On May 11, 2020, he was transferred from Rajai Shahr Prison to Lakan Prison. On September 30, 2020, he was held in solitary confinement for more than two months for the second time.

Sunni Prisoner Arkan Palani Jaf Sews Lips Together to Protest Lack of Furlough

Sunni prisoner Arkan Palani Jaf sewed his lips together in protest against the prison’s refusal to grant him furlough after several requests. Jaf has spent more than four  of his seven year sentence without furlough.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, a note from this prisoner which has been reached to HRANA, he complained that his request for furlough had been dismissed many times and that his family was rejected and humiliated by prison authorities in Evin Courthouse.

Earlier, on Monday, December 17, 2021,  he went on hunger strike, which ended after a few days.

Jaf was arrested in 2016 and sentenced by the Revolutionary Court to 7 years on the charge of “collaboration with ISIS”. According to an informed source, the security agents wanted to arrest his brother and when they failed, arrested him instead despite having no evidence for his association with ISIS.

Jaf is 28 years old and a resident of Sarpol Zahab City. He is currently jailed in Rajai Shahr Prison.

Sunni Cleric Arrested By Security Forces in Kamyaran

On December 24, security forces arrested Sunni Cleric Mohammad-Mirza Rahmani in Kamyaran County, Kurdistan Province and transferred him to an unidentified location.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa, Rahmani, a resident of the village Lown-e Sadat, was arrested due to his speech at the funeral of Heydar Ghorbani, a political prisoner who was recently executed in Sanandaj prison.

Despite inquiry from his family, his whereabouts are still unknown at the time of writing.

Update on Abdolbaset Orsan’s Condition in Vakilabad Prison

Sunni prisoner Abdolbaset Orsan is currently spending the fifth year of his sentence in Vakilabad Prison, Mashhad City. He has hardly seen his family due to their distance from the prison, the high costs of travel and COVID-related restrictions.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Orsan has been deprived of family visitation. An informed source elaborated that in, “the ward where he is housed, under pretext of COVID-19 regulations, family visitation has long been stopped. The prisoners in other wards, however, can have visitations. Since [Orsan] was the sole breadwinner of his family, his family can hardly afford [to support themselves]”.

On October 8, 2017, Ministry of Intelligence agents arrested and held him for 12 months in solitary confinement in one of their detention centers.

In 2019, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad sentenced him to 15 years in prison and fined him 55 million tomans (13090 USD) on the charge of “spreading corruption on earth through acting against national security and collaboration with terrorist groups”. He was acquitted from charges of “armed insurrection against the regime (Baghi)”. In 2020, this verdict was upheld on appeal.

In July, Orsan, along with eight other Sunni prisoners in Vakilabad prison, wrote a letter to Javid Rahman, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran. The open letter both requested that their cases be investigated and mentioned that their confessions have been extracted under torture and pressure upon their families.

Orsan is a Sunni citizen and a resident of Torbat-Jam. He is married and the father of three children.

Three Political Prisoners Transferred from Urmia Prison to an Unknown Location

Sunni political prisoners Mohyedin Ebrahimi, Mohyedin Tazehvared and Davood Jabbari were recently transferred from Urmia Prison to an unidentified location. Given that two of these prisoners have been sentenced to death, this relocation raises concerns about them.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the whereabouts and conditions of these prisoners are unknown as of this writing. This relocation took place following the confirmation of the death sentences for Mohyeldin Ebrahimi and Mohyeldin Tazehvared. They have asked for a retrial.

On October 23, 2017, Mohyedin Ebrahimi was wounded by direct fire from an Iranian officer at Iraq’s border and arrested on a charge of smuggling alcoholic beverages. Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Urmia subsequently sentenced him to death. Following an overturn of the verdict by the supreme court of Iran, the case was sent back to Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court for re-examination. The supreme court confirmed the verdict, and the death sentence was upheld.

On October 29, 2018, Mohyedin Tazehvared was arrested by security forces and transferred to Urmia Prison until the end of legal proceedings. He was also sentenced to death by Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Urmia. Until now, his request for a retrial has not been answered.

On June 4, 2017, Davood Jabbari was arrested and then sentenced to 18 years imprisonment on the charge of “membership in ISIS (Daesh)”.

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Sunni Prisoner Zaher Roozkhun Released on Bail

On Thursday, October 14, Sunni prisoner Zaher Roozkhun was released temporarily on bail until the end of criminal proceedings.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa, Mahabad resident Zaher Roozkhun was released on bail for 350 million tomans (approx. 13,000 US dollars). He has been denied access to lawyer and family visitation during the detention.

Roozkhun had been previously arrested by security forces before too on August 29, 2021. After completing the interrogation process, he was sent from a detention center in Urmia to Mahabad Prison.

As of writing this, the reason for his arrest and the charges is unknown.

 

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 20, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 20th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Sepideh Gholian was arrested earlier today. She reacted to last night’s broadcast of her forced confessions on the national television and requested a public trial. She is a social rights’ activist and was released on bail on December 18th. She was arrested on November 18th while she was supporting the strike of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane workers.

(2) A Baha’i citizen, Atousa Ahmadaei, was arrested earlier today in Tehran and was transferred to an unknown place. The intelligent officers also searched her home and confiscated her belongings indicating that her charge is “acting against the national security’.

(3) A Telegram activist, Mohammad Mehdi Zamanzadeh, was released from prison after completing two and a half years sentence for blasphemy-related charges.

(4) Two Kulbars (Kurdish back carriers), Karim Faraji and Masoud Ahmadzadeh, were injured after fell falling off a mountain in Sardasht and Baneh.

(5) Mohammad Saleh Shokri was acquitted of “cooperation with a Kurdish opposition group” in Saqqez while Majid Tibash was released on bail on the same charge in Urmia. Five other people, Ali Esmaeili, Oman Hasani, Hassan Mousavi, Abdollah Advai, Osman Hosseini, Jamal Mousavi and Arshia Maleki have been arrested on the same charge in Oshnavieh, Sarvabad and Kermanshah.

(6) A 23-year-old resident of Ahvaz, Ali Ayashi, was arrested by the security forces. His whereabouts is still unknown.

(7) Yaser Mohebi and Ghader Zini have been arrested in Kermanshah and Urmia on the charge of “cooperation with Kurdish opposition group”. Mohebi was arrested last year after having a speech in support of Baha’i citizens.

(8) Historian and documentary producer, Hossein Dehbashi, was sentenced to four months imprisonment on the charge of “disturbing the public mind” for the complaint filed by Ministry of Health and Medical Education’s. According to Hrana, Dehbashi rose to modest fame after producing a promotional documentary for 2013 presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani, as well as the documentary “The Royal Court’s Narrative.” In 2015, he directed and launched the Iran Verbal History Project through the National Library and Documentation Center [thousands of YouTube viewers have screened clips of Dehbashi’s work, which features interviews with key political figures from the past four decades.

(9) The families of two detained Arab citizens, Ghasem Beit Abdollah and Abdollah Karmalacheab who received death penalty for ‘acting against the national security’ and were transferred to the Evin prison, have expressed their concern for their execution date approaching.

(10) A prisoner on the death row was saved from execution by the consent of the next of kin in the Fars province. There have been 31 similar cases in the last 11 months. There were seven other savings from execution in the Yazd province in the same period

(11) Workers of Aleshtar city services in Lorestan province have unpaid wages. Also, the Ports and Marine Organization owes the insurance share to its workers.

(12) The release on bail for the two detained labor activists, Behnam Ebrahimzadeh and Arsham Rezaei is postponed. Also, Rezaei and two others in the same case Mohammad Hosseinzadeh, and Majid Hosseini, were transferred to quarantine in the Evin prison although their bonds were set.

(13) Sunni elites and professors in Sistan and Baluchestan wrote an open letter to the president, Hassan Rouhani, to protest the discrimination and not using Sunni’s elites’ consultation in this province.

(14) A man who assaulted the cashier of a restaurant, has received an alternate sentence to foster street Children for six months by the court of Shiraz.

(15) More than seven protests were organized in Iran on January 20, 2019. The clients of SAIPA and IranKhodro in Tehran, the contractors of Tehran municipality, Ahvaz inter-city rail workers, the workers of city services in Borujerd, the investors in Padideh Shandiz in Tehran, the applicants of Islamic Azad Medical University in Tehran, and the workers of Lowshan municipality held separate protests to demand their requests.

(16) Five foreign exchange market dealers (Forex brokers) were sentenced to 370 lashes, combined, on the charge of “interfering with the interchangeability of the foreign currency value”.Five foreign exchange market dealers (Forex brokers) were sentenced to 370 lashes, combined, on the charge of “interfering with the interchangeability of the foreign currency value”.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 19, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 19th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Two Baha’i citizens, Kimia Mostafavi and Kiana Rezvani, have been arrested in Kerman. Their whereabouts are still unknown.

(2) A landmine explosion injured Hadid Babajani, a 19-year-old Kulbar (Kurdish back carrier), in Ravansar city in the Kermanshah province.

(3) Two workers of Iran National Steel Industrial Group (NSIG) in Ahvaz, Karim Sayahi and Tarogh Khalafi, were released after two months. More than 43 workers of NSIG have been arrested on December 16, 2018.

(4) A student transporting vehicle crashed leaving four students injured in Tehran. Similar incidents had happened in Qaleh Ganj and Ekhtiarabad in Kerman province on January 15 and 16.

(5) A Baha’i owned-business in Birjand was reopened. Farshid Deymi’s store was sealed off by judicial authorities order last year. Apparently, the Baha’i owned-businesses were shut down because they were closed for Bahai religious holidays.

(6) Two detained labor activists, Behnam Ebrahimzadeh and Arsham Rezaei have their bonds set at 200 million Toman [approximately 20 thousand USD] each. Ebrahimzadeh was arrested last month and he had been released from prison last year after finishing his seven years sentence.

(7) Masoud Shamsnejad, a lawyer and professor, was arrested and transferred to Urmia prison while the security guards raided his home and confiscated his belongings. He was accused of “propaganda against the state” due to being a lawyer of his clients.

(8) A worker died of electrocution in Tehran and another worker fatally fell in Zahedan, because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions.

(9) Four employees of a news website, Sunni News, were summoned to the Revolutionary Court in Zahedan. Sunni News discusses the Sunni Islam beliefs and rituals with respect to the other religions.

(10) The workers of Khuzestan Pipe Industrial Company have more than 15 months unpaid wages and 11 months unpaid insurance fee owed by the employer.

(11) Two environmentalists have been arrested in Sanandaj city in Kurdistan province. Edris Mohammadi and Avat Karami were arrested for an unknown reason and their whereabouts are still unknown.

(12) More than three protests were organized in Iran on January 19, 2019. Municipality workers in Borujerd, several people in Sistan and Baluchestan, and the workers of Ahvaz inter-city rail, have held separate protests to demand their requests.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for December 25, 2018

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on December 25th, 2018 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Imprisoned teacher, Rouhollah Mardani’s health is deteriorating in Evin Prison after 18 days of hunger strike.The charges brought against Mardani were “propaganda against the state” and “assembly and collusion against national security.” He sentenced to six years in prison, two-year ban on political and social activities and two-year prohibition on traveling abroad.

(2) Hadi Khyat Mashhadi, a retired teacher and a teachers’ rights activist, was arrested and transferred to an unknown place.

(3) A British-Iranian academic Abbas Edalat, who was arrested and detained in Iran on security charges has returned to the UK. He was attending an academic workshop in Iran on 15 April before he was detained. He works at Imperial College London.

(4) The businesses of six Baha’i citizens, Behrouz, Hosseinali, and Behnam Habibi, Bahador Ahmadi, Kambiz Azadi, and Kourosh Jaberi, have been shut down by judicial authorities for the last 40 days in Abadan and Khoramshahr.

(5) Rajai-Shahr Prison canceled all the inmate transfers to hospital due to a prisoner’s escape en route to a hospital.

(6) Two prisoners, Rouhollah Mardani and Mahmoud Naji, ended their hunger strikes in Evin prison after the prison authorities promised to fulfill their requests.

(7) An appeal court confirmed the 3-year imprisonment of Amir Ali Moradi. He is accused of ‘propaganda against the state’ and ‘insulting the Supreme Leader’.

(8) Hamed Aynehvand, a detained journalist, was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment and was denied access to a lawyer for his trial. He is accused of ‘propaganda against the state’.

(9) The appeal court for nine Baha’i citizens was in session today. Afshin Bolbolan, Saham Armin, Milad Davardan, Farhang Sahba, Anoush Rayne, Bahareh Zeini, Fojan Rashidi, Sepideh Rohani, and Ali Sani were sentenced earlier to 48 years in prison, combined.

(10) Hafeez Junaid, a detained Pakistani citizen in Zahedan prison, has ended his hunger strike. He was striking against the unfavorable conditions and the staff violent behaviors in prison.

(11) In 2015, approximately 5 thousand people died in Tehran due to air pollution. Moreover, 9.3 percent of Tehran residents are suffering from diabetes and 50 percent of them, have type two diabetes. In addition, 50 percent of them are suffering from high cholesterol and 30 percent have high triglyceride. One million and 700 thousand people have high blood pressure of which 36.1 percent are aware of their issue. In 2017, more than one thousand and 400 had heart attack due to high blood pressure.

(12) Afsaneh Rezaee, a graduate student of electrical engineering at Shiraz University, was sentenced to six months imprisonment, She is accused of protesting with a banner on which she was requesting her mother’s release.

(13) Sunni prisoners of Rajai-shahr prison wrote a statement to United Nations Human Rights Council about their detention condition, maltreatment, and abuse in prison.

(14) Azad Salehian was sentenced to two years imprisonment on charge of ‘insulting the Supreme Leader’ and ‘propaganda against the state’.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for December 21, 2018

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on December 21th, 2018 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) A school bus driver in Bandar-e Mahshahr is facing charges after being accused of sexually assaulting a girl while transporting students. Two other school bus drivers were arrested yesterday.

(2) Two Sunni clerics, Molavi Khodabakhsh Eslamdoust and Molavi Esmail Eslamdoust were summoned to the Revolutionary Court in Chabahar.

(3) An 11-year-old hanged himself in Izeh due to poverty. More than 7% of suicides in Iran are committed by teenagers. Iranian news agencies reported that he committed suicide due to a family conflict, but some news in cyber space noted it happened because of poverty. Izeh is a city in Khuzestan province.

(4) Iranian border patrol shot three Kurdish couriers also known as kulbars, Rahman Shovaneh, Nader Nabizadeh, and AliMamand in Oshnavieh, Piranshahr, and Sardasht. Another kulbar, Salar Tanhaei, was found dead from hypothermia in Javanrud.

(5) Water crisis will cause 20 million people to migrate from the south of Iran. Ali Asadi Karam, a member of the parliament added that this migration which is due to the water scarcity will have so many social consequences.

(6) A prisoner in Nowshahr who was arrested on charge of murder and was sentenced to death, was saved from execution after 10 years in jail with forgiveness and consent of the next of kin. His execution was scheduled the next week.

(7) Three firefighters were injured in an unsafe workplace-related incident in a warehouse in Mashhad.

(8) A Sunni prisoner, Moloud Shaier, was released on parole from Urmia prison. She was arrested in January 2016 and was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment on charges of “collaborating with Salafi groups”.

(9) Sam Nasir Moghadam is a political prisoner who was sentenced to two years imprisonment on charge of ‘propaganda against the State’ and ‘insulting the Supreme Leader’.

(10) Reporters Without Borders (RSF) had written to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, about the conditions of detained journalists in Iran, which is one of the world’s five biggest jailers of journalist. According to the worldwide round-up on deadly violence and abusive treatment of media personnel that RSF published yesterday. “Imprisoning journalists, denying them medical care while they are detained and denying them the right to a fair trial constitute a flagrant violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is party,” RSF points out.