Author: admin-hr

Three Environmentalists Remain in Police Custody

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Environment
Behrooz Darvand, Iraj Ghaderi, Sharif Bajour

HRANA News Agency – Three Kurdish social activists and members of Management Council for Green Chya Forum in Marivan, Kurdistan Province, will remain in temporary police custody for another month.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Sharif Bajour, Behrooz Darvand and Iraj Ghaderi were arrested on July 23, 2011 by security forces in the city of Marivan.On August 23, 2011, the prosecutor granted a request made by the Intelligence Agency’s interrogator to keep these three prisoners behind bars for an additional month because investigations surrounding their cases have not yet been completed.

These three social activists have been permitted to call their families only for a few minutes during the last month.

 

Hanieh Farshi Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison

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Freedom of Expression
Hanieh Farshi

HRANA News Agency – After eleven months of temporary incarceration, Hanieh (Sharareh) Farshi, a citizen from Tabriz in East Azerbaijan Province, has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

According to a report by Bamdad Khabar news website, Judge Moghiseh presiding over the Revolutionary Court, Branch 28, sentenced Hanieh Farshi, 38, to a total of seven years in prison on charges of blasphemy and insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran.

On Wednesday, June 15, 2011, the court’s ruling was given to Hanieh Farshi.She was tried two months ago without the presence of an attorney.

According to this report, the heavy sentence was imposed because of Hanieh Farshi’s confession to sending several email messages and also various Internet activities.These confessions took place while Hanieh Farshi was locked up in solitary confinement and placed under physical and psychological torture by the interrogators.

Hanieh Farshi’s mother has said that prior to her arrest, her daughter had no history of previous political activity.

On July 18, 2010, security forces raided Hanieh Farshi’s house and arrested her.She was then transferred to Evin Prison where she spent the first two months of her incarceration in solitary confinement.In January 2011, Hanieh Farshi was transferred to a ward which previously housed Methadone drug addicts but female political prisoners were also kept there.After several protests against the poor living arrangements in this ward, Hanieh Farshi together with all other female political prisoner was transferred to another cell block where female political prisoners are kept.

Hanieh Farshi suffers from severe depression due to psychological pressures imposed on her.Additionally, since her father’s death in October 2010, her condition has worsened due to the fact that she was not allowed to attend his funeral.

 

Summoning of Tehran University Student Activist, Mahdi Tajik

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Freedom of Expression, Students
Mahdi Tajik

HRANA News Agency –Mahdi Tajik, a graduate student at University of Tehran, was summoned by Evin Court Enforcement Office in order to start his two-year prison term.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), this journalist and student activist was arrested in his home following the mass protests on Ashura in 2009.Mahdi Tajik was convicted and sentenced by the lower court in 2010 to 27 months in prison and banned from political activity and journalism for 30 years.Last year, this ruling was changed and reduced by the Appeals Court to 24 months in prison and a 15 year ban from political activity and journalism.

As a result of the ruling by the Appeals Court, Mehdi Tajik will be denied work as a professional journalist and will not be able to conduct any speeches or interviews, write articles or become a member of any political groups and parties for a period of 15 years.

Mahdi Tajik is an expert nuclear physicist and a graduate student at Tehran University Law School.In 2006, he was also arrested and charged by the security forces for founding a student activist organization.Subsequently, Majdi Tajik was locked up for several months in the Revolutionary Guard Detention Center, Number 59. In the same year, the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to two and a half years in prison.

Ali Nejati Will Be Tried Again

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Labor and Guilds
Ali Nejati

HRANA News Agency – On Saturday, June 11, 2011, Ali Nejati will be tried again on charges for which he has already faced prosecution and served prison time.His trial will be held in Ahvaz Appeals Court, Branch 13.Before being fired from his job, Ali Nejati was a laborer at Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Company.He is one of the board members of Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Company Workers’ Trade Union.

According to a report by the website of the Coordinating Committee to Create Labor Organizations, Ali Nejati has spent six months in prison for the same charge.After his prison term was over, prosecutors attempted to try him again, but the charges were dismissed by the court since they were repetitive.

After the acquittal, because of the prosecutor’s objection and pressure from intelligence officials, Ali Nejati’s case was once again referred to the appeals court at the provincial capital.

During previous court proceedings, the trail was postponed due to Ali Nejati’s heart attack.Now, he is being retried while suffering from heart failure and the clogging of arteries and is physically weak after having undergone several heart surgeries.

For more than two years, Ali Nejati has been the target of pressure, prosecution and imprisonment for representing workers and being a board member of Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Company Workers’ Trade Union.Since he was fired from his job, he has also been suffering financially and has lost the means to support himself.

Once again, Iran’s judiciary and intelligence apparatus is exerting more pressure on Ali Nejati and his family in order to prevent this labor activist to seek justice for workers.He is being tried again on charges for which he has already served prison time.

 

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani Gives Coerced Televised Confession

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Prisoners

HRANA- Last night, Iran State Television broadcasted an interview with Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who is under imminent risk of being stoned to death. In that interview she “confesses” to adultery and the murder of her husband. She also criticized her lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei for publicizing her case.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s appearance on television last night comes after a temporary stay in her stoning sentence and during a time when her case is surrounded in uncertainty.

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Hiwa Bootimar Transferred to Solitary Confinement in Marivan Prison

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Prisoners
Hiwa Bootimar

HRANA – Kurdish political prisoner Hiwa Bootimar has been transferred to solitary confinement in Marivan prison.
According to reports received by HRANA, Hiwa Bootimar was taken to solitary confinement over a week ago and there was no news about the condition or whereabouts of this journalist and civic activist until his family were finally able to visit him yesterday.
Mr. Bootimar is currently serving an 8-year prison sentence in Marivan prison. He had previously been sentenced to execution twice by the Revolutionary Court of Marivan, but with the protests of his attorney, Mr. Saleh Nikbakht, these unjust sentences were reversed by the Supreme Court and reduced to 8 years in prison.
 

Danger of Imminent Execution: Gholamreza Khosravi’s Reconsideration of Case Failed

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Executions
Gholamreza Khosravi

HRANA News Agency – reconsideration of Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani, political prisoner who is sentenced to death, was failed and he is in danger of imminent execution.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 31st branch of Supreme Court in Tehran announced reconsideration of Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani, political prisoner who is sentenced to death, was failed and he is in danger of imminent execution.

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Arash Sadeghi Transferred for Arraignment for Sending Out a Letter to Tehran’s Prosecutor

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Prisoners
Abbas Jafari Dowlatabad, Arash Sadeghi, Farahnaz Dargahi

HRANA News Agency – Imprisoned student activist, Arash Sadeghi was transferred for arraignment for sending out a letter to Tehran’s Prosecutor.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Arash Sadeghi, imprisoned student activist, was transferred from Ward 209 of Evin for arraignment on Tuesday, November 27, 2012.
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The court session for 11 Baha’i citizens was held in Mashhad

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Prisoners
Arman Mokhtari, Behnaz Hadadzadeh, Ezatollah Ahmadian, Fataneh Haji Pour, Hourieh Mohseni, Naghmeh Zabihian, Navid Nabili, Negar Malekzadeh, Negin Ahmadian, Shahzad Khalili, Shayan Tafazoli


HRANA News Agency – The trial of 11 Baha’i citizens on charge of “propaganda against system via Baha’i propaganda” and “being member of Baha’i Community” was held in Mashhad, Iran.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on Sunday, October 28, 2012, The trial of 11 Baha’i citizens on charge of “propaganda against system via Baha’i propaganda” and “being member of Baha’i Community” was held in Mashhad and their verdicts will be issued soon.
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26 Kurdish Prisoners of Conscience on Hunger Strike in Rajai-Shahr

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Ethnic Minorities
Abdullah Khosrozadeh, Hesam Mohammadi, Heyman Mahmoud Takhti, Hossein Heydari, Mamousta Mohammad Baraie, Sobhan Ahmadzadeh

HRANA News Agency – Twenty six Kurdish prisoners of conscience have gone on hunger strike in Rajai-Shahr Prison located in the city of Karaj.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), twenty six members of Kurdish ethnic minority locked up in Ward 2 of Rajai-Shahr Prison have begun an open-ended hunger strike to protest against violations of their rights and discriminations imposed on them by prison officials.

It has been reported that a few days ago, Ward 2’s warden, Mr. Soltani, encouraged several regular prisoners to instigate a brawl with one of the Kurdish prisoners of conscience, Hesam Mohammadi.After the fight broke out, Hesam Mohammadi was first transferred to the quarantine ward and then to another cell block in Rajai-Shahr Prison.However, no disciplinary action was taken against regular prisoners who initiated the fight.
Since there have been other instances of such discriminations against Kurdish prisoners of conscience in the past, Hesam Mohammadi’s cellmates decided to react this time and protested against repeated acts of bigotry towards Kurds.However, prison officials refused to address inmates’ concerns and remained indifferent and silent.
Amongst Kurdish prisoners locked up in Ward 2 of Rajai-Shahr Prison, there are Sunni prisoners of conscience such as Mamousta Mohammad Baraie, Abdullah Khosrozadeh, Hossein Heydari, Sobhan Ahmadzadeh, Heyman Mahmoud Takhti and a number of other Kurdish Sunni activists.These prisoners have been denied the right to be kept in the cell block allocated to inmates arrested for political reasons.Additionally, they have not been permitted to use furlough, have regular prison visits with their families or meet with Iranian judicial authorities such as a representative from the prosecutor’s office in Tehran