Tag: Verya Saed Moochashmi

Nine Prisoners on Hunger Strike in Iran

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Prisoners
Farhad Ariai, Farhad Meysami, Farshid Nasseri, iran human rights, Namegh Deldel, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Political Prisoner, prison hunger strike, prisoner hunger strike, prisoner of conscience, Ramin Hossein Panahi, saman rahmani, seyed ghassem abasteh, Verya Saed Moochashmi

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – In the last few weeks, a number of prisoners across the country have declared hunger strike. HRANA has prepared a bulletin on their cases, previously reported in detail.

Nasrin Sotoudeh
Lawyer and human rights activist

Nasrin Sotoudeh started a hunger strike on August 25th in protest to her arrest and the judicial pressures being placed on her family, relatives, and friends.
She published an open letter outlining her reasons for the strike.

Ramin Hossein Panahi
Political prisoner

Sentenced to death, Ramin Hossein Panahi was recently transferred to Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison and declared hunger strike on August 27th by sewing his lips together. He is protesting his sentence and multiple violations of his legal rights. His lawyers published a statement sharing the reasons behind the strike. According to them, his whereabouts have been unknown since his August 26th transfer out of Rajai Shahr.

Farhad Meysami
Civil rights activist

Farhad Meysami was arrested July 31st by security forces. He started a hunger strike August 1st, protesting his arrest and the constraints being placed on his choice of attorney. He was transferred from Evin’s Quarantine Ward to the General Ward on August 26th, where he is reportedly suffering from low blood pressure and drastic weight loss.

Namegh Deldel
Prisoner of conscience

Sunni prisoner Namegh Deldel from hall 21, Ward 7 of Rajai Shahr Prison has been suffering from an injury to his right leg. In protest of his restricted access to medical care, including the prison’s refusal to transfer him to an outside hospital, he has been on hunger strike for more than a month.

Farhad Ariai (Sahrapeyma)
Political prisoner

Farhad Ariai (Sahrapeyma), a political prisoner in the Workers’ Ward of Urmia Prison, is in the sixth year of his seven-year sentence. Eligible for early release per Article 134 on the serving of concurrent sentences, he declared hunger strike on August 15th when the court refused to review his request thereof. According to a credible source, Ariai was transferred to the quarantine ward immediately after starting his hunger strike.
Ariai also declared hunger strike last year when prison officials denied his request for furlough. In response to that strike, prison staff forcibly handcuffed and transferred him to the Workers’ Ward of the prison, where he remains to this day.

Seyed Ghassem Abasteh
Prisoner of conscience

Seyed Ghassem Abasteh, a Sunni prisoner in Karaj’s Rajai Shahr prison, started a hunger strike on July 17th to protest his inadequate medical care and the prison’s denial of his access to a clinic. Despite developing asthenia and severe weight loss as of the fifteenth day of his strike, prison authorities continue to ignore his pleas.

His poor health condition has been repeatedly reported on, and in March, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. His condition has deteriorated to the point that he struggles to speak and breathe.

Abasteh is married with two children. He was arrested in early 2010 and sent to solitary confinement in Urmia Prison, which is run by the Ministry of Intelligence. He spent eight months there before being transferred to Evin Prison, where he spent six months in the solitary cells of wards 240 and 209. After 14 months, he spent another 20 days in Ward 350 of Evin before finally being transferred to Rajai Shahr on April 8, 2012.

He faces charges such as “militant activity”, accused of backing Salafi groups. He denied such involvement, saying the charges are baseless.

He has been awaiting trial since his 2016 prison sentence from Judge Moghiseh was nullified. He has thus far spent eight years in prison without due process.

Saman Rahmani

Saman Rahmani, a prisoner in the Health Ward of Saqez Prison, is on the verge of losing his arms after suffering an injury, yet continues to be denied the rights of furlough and access to a clinic. He started a hunger strike on July 20th in protest.
“Rahmani was to be sent to Karaj’s Rajai Shahr prison for care, but prison authorities changed their minds,” a credible source told HRANA.

When authorities promised him medical care earlier this year, he stopped the hunger strike he had started in June for the same reasons.

Farshid Nasseri
Prisoner of conscience

Sunni prisoner Farshid Nasseri of Rajai Shahr started a hunger strike on June 16th to demand his right to furlough. Twenty-eight days later, his condition had severely deteriorated. He suffers from back and neck problems, in addition to psychological issues stemming from his years spent in prison.

Verya Saed Moochashmi

On August 19th, on orders from a Ward chief penalizing their refusal to end their hunger strike, five prisoners from Ward 3 of Rajai Shahr were beaten and sent to solitary confinement. They were reportedly striking to protest issues with their respective legal cases.

HRANA understands these prisoners to be Verya Saed Moochashmi, Hossein Esmaeili, Saeed Moradpour, Mojtaba Kounani, and Alireza Kounani. As of yesterday, August 27, 2018, Moochashmi is the sole among the group to continue the strike.

In 1998, Moochashmi, then 17, was sentenced to death and 80 lashings when he was convicted of aiding and abetting murder. He has so far served 21 years in prison.

“In The Name of the Non-Existent Justice” A letter from alleged juvenile offender after 21 years in prison

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Children, Prisoners
Death Penalty, iran human rights, juvenile offenders in iran, juvenile offenders on death row, Verya Saed Moochashmi

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Verya Saed Moochashmi has been detained in Karaj’s notorious Rajai Shahr Prison since he was 17. Convicted of aiding and abetting murder in 1998, he was sentenced to the death penalty and 80 lashes. This marks his 21st year behind bars.

In a letter obtained by HRANA, Mr Moochashmi remembers the incident that led to his conviction, stating that the murder was the unintended escalation of a clash initiated by an individual by the name of Shahram Jalali. Per an agreement with the victim’s family to pay damages (known as “blood money”) in exchange for a death row pardon, Mr Jalili had already paid half of the requested sum when he was executed in 2002. Esmaeil Hosseini, the other co-defendant, was released after serving three years and six months of his ten-year prison sentence.

The full text of Mr Moochashmi’s letter is below, translated into English:

In The Name of Non-Existent Justice

Behind prison bars from the age of 17 to now, the age of 40…Where is the justice?

I, Verya Saed Moochashmi, am a prisoner in Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison. When I was 14, to help my ageing father and my family, I left behind my city, my studies, and my home and came to Tehran. In 1998, I had been working as a laborer in Imam Khomeini International Airport for three years and I was about to turn 17 when I was convicted of aiding and abetting murder and sentenced to death and 80 lashes.

Yet in the skirmish that led to the murder of Mohammad Emami (the victim), the fighting and the killing were the work of Shahram Jalali — son of Jamal, born in Rabat Karim — and also another individual named Esmaeil Hosseini, who was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison but was freed after three years and six months. The principal defendant, Shahram Jalali, was executed in 2002 with the consent of the victim’s guardians, after having paid half of the blood money commensurate with the murder of a Muslim. I was innocent from the beginning, young and naive, illiterate, subject to the testimonies of my co-defendants which were totally baseless. The judge knows it, and yet I have been left in prison for 21 years.

Meanwhile not only have I lost my youth and my family, but I’ve also attempted suicide multiple times, documentation of which can be found in Imam Khomeini hospital.

All the while, the victim’s family has neglected the case and my situation in prison. Based on my requests and pursuant to Article 429, they’ve been repeatedly summoned but have refused to answer. Finally, in 2017, the assistant prosecutor, Mr Allahyari, summoned my family and me to post a bail of 2.2 billion rials [about $21,000 USD].

My family (of which only my brother remains) have done all they can to gather the money and post the bail. But a different assistant prosecutor has been named in the meantime, and the woman who now heads the department takes issue with Mr Allahyari’s terms and insulted my brother, calling him “backwards and worthless to society.” She said the process for the posting of bail and its payment now have to start anew.

A year has passed since then, and it’s now been 21 years since I’ve been in prison. Based on a law passed in 2013, minors can’t be sentenced to death, but I keep being punished and my case keeps getting ignored. As I approach 40, I am left with only one choice: declare a hunger strike to restore my rights and defend them until death. I want word to spread of the injustice that has been done to me; and for everyone to see their negligence of my case and the inconsiderate attitude of the new assistant prosecutor of the Branch 1, and how she has obstructed the process.

Is Article 429 not the law of the land? Have I not tried to have it followed four different times? How can a change of judge and assistant prosecutor (who get transferred among branches) mean a change in law? Where is the justice?

Who is going to be responsible for the waste of 21 years of my life? Is all this talk of justice a mere propaganda campaign, designed to deceive the media and public opinion?

Does the “principle of justice” serve merely to disparage and verbally abuse prisoners’ families, and for judges levelling insults at them, enforcing arbitrary sentences at their whim?

Verya Saed Moochashmi
Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison
August 17, 2018