Category: Prisoners

Keyvan Bazhan Released on Furlough Connecting to End of Sentence

Posted on by A MN
News, Prisoners
Baktash Abtin, Dariush Forouhar, Iranian Writers Association, Keyvan Bazhan, Mohammad Ja'far Pouyandeh, Mohammad Mokhtari, Parvaneh Eskandari, Reza Khandan

On March 9, Keyvan Bazhan, writer and a member of the Iranian Writers’ Association was released from Evin Prison on furlough. By the end of the furlough period, he will have served his sentence and hence will not return to prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Bazhan, has been imprisoned since October 2020. On May 7, 2015, Bazhan was summoned by Branch 12 of the Court of Culture and Media along with Reza Khandan and the deceased Baktash Abtin, where they were interrogated and accused of “propaganda against the regime”. On January 22, 2019, they were arrested during an appearance at Branch 28 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. Due to an increase in bail to one billion tomans and their inability to post bail, they were jailed in Evin Prison. Four days later, Bazhan was released on bail until the end of legal proceedings.

On April 27 and 28 of 2019, the first court session was held by Branch 28 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. The court, headed by Judge Mohammad Moghayeseh, sentenced him to one year in prison on the charge of “propaganda against the regime” and five years on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security”. On September 26, 2020, he was sent to Evin Prison to serve his sentence.

In the trial, examples for the above-mentioned charged included Bazhan’s membership in the IWA, as well as publishing the internal newsletter for IWA, collecting and authoring a book about the history of IWA and visiting the burial place of the writers who were killed during the Chain murders of Iran, such as Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad-Ja’far Pouyandeh.

The IWA is an independent group of authors, poets, editors and translators based in Iran which was formed in May 1968 to fight against state censorship. The government has continuously persecuted members of the IWA after the 1979 revolution. In 1998, several IWA members, including opposition politicians Dariush Forouhar and his wife Parvaneh Eskandari, and writers Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad-Ja’far Pouyandeh, were murdered.

Political Prisoner Shakila Monfared Goes on Hunger Strike in Qarchak Prison

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News, Prisoners
Arsham Rezaei, Iman Afshari, Mohammad Abolhassani, Shakila Monfared

On March 3, political prisoner Shakila Monfared went on a hunger strike in protest against the housing of political prisoners in the same ward as prisoners of violent crime, the irresponsibility of prison officials towards her safety and the recent threat from one of her fellow inmates.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, an informed source told HRANA that one of the prisoners of violent crimes threatened her with a sharpened piece of a can and intended to injure her.

In violation of prison rules, many political prisoners are housed in the same ward as prisoners of violent crimes, which make them subject to threats, battery and even murder.

On August 31, 2020, security forces arrested Monfared while she was leaving her home. They transferred her to a detention centre at the disposal of the IRGC in Tehran. Reportedly, they did not have a warrant for this arrest.

On September 9 of last year she was relocated to the quarantine section of the women’s ward of Evin Prison. On September 14, she was released on a bail of 400 million tomans until the end of legal proceedings.

In January of this year, the joint court trial of Shakila Monfared, Arsham Rezaei, and Mohammad Abolhassani was held in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. 27 year old Monfared was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 4 months of probation work in the Agricultural Jihad on charges of “propaganda activities against the system” and “insulting the sanctities of Islam”.

Monfared was granted furlough on August 23 of this year and returned to jail on September 7.

Mostafa Abdi Denied Adequate Medical Treatment Despite Showing COVID-19 Related Respiratory Problems

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News, Prisoners
Coronavirus, covid-19, Golestan-e Haftom, Gonabadi Dervishes, Mostafa Abdi

Mostafa Abdi, an imprisoned member of a religious community known as Gonabadi Dervishes, tested positive for COVID-19 in the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary. Despite showing serious COVID symptoms such as respiratory problems, he has not been allowed to be hospitalized outside prison or go on medical furlough.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Abdi’s father, Hasan Abdi, confirmed the news on his personal social media. According to an informed source close to the family, prisoner officials have not approved of medical furlough or dispatch to a hospital despite frequent requests and respiratory problems.

Abdi is a Gonabadi Darvish, a prisoner of conscience, and the administrator of the Dervish news site Majzooban-e-Noor.

On February 20, 2018, he was arrested during the Golestan-e Haftom Protests. These protests took place on Golestan 7th Street in a district in Tehran, which led to bloody clashes between security forces and Dervishes.

Thereafter, the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced him to 26 years and 3 months in prison, 148 lashings, a 2 year ban on both civic activities and travel, and a 2 year exile to Sistan and Baluchestan Province.

Applying Article 34 of the Islamic Penal Code, the severest punishment of seven years and six months is enforceable.

He had previously faced other arrests and convictions. In July of 2013, he was sentenced to three years in prison on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security”. In December of 2015, he was released from jail after serving his sentence.

Around midnight on February 3, 2018, several hundred Gonabadi Dervishes gathered before the home of their spiritual leader, Noor Ali Tabandeh, in a gesture of protection against heightened security monitoring of his activities (security forces had aggressively intervened in Dervish gatherings in the same spot less than two weeks earlier). Their February 3rd demonstration — on Golestan-e Haftom street in Tehran, hence the incident’s name — would fare no better and was soon violently disbanded by Iranian police and plainclothes forces of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij faction.

Mohammad Hossein Ahangari Released With Electronic Tag From Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary

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News, Prisoners
arson, Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, Mohammad Hossein Ahangari

Mohammad Hossein Ahangari, who was arrested during nationwide protests in November 2019, was released with an electronic tag and restricted movement from the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary. He will serve the rest of his three-year sentence outside the prison with restrictions on his movement.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Ahangari was released on bail on November 26 2019, pending legal proceedings. In November 2020, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment by Branch 101 of the Criminal Court of Eslamshahr on the charge of “an arson attack on Basij Base”. On December 8, 2020, he was jailed to serve his sentence.

Iranian-American Citizen Emad Sharghi and Political Prisoner Reza Ghalandari Contract COVID-19 in Evin Prison

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News, Prisoners
Bahareh Amidi, Coronavirus, COVID, covid-19, Emad Sharghi, Reza Ghalandari, Salavati

Imprisoned Iranian-American citizen Emad Sharghi and political prisoner Reza Ghalandari tested positive for COVID-19 in Evin Prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Sharghi’s family has previously expressed concerns about his health in case he contracts COVID-19, as he suffers from high blood pressure and cholesterol. He has been deprived of the COVID-19 vaccine.

In April of 2018, Sharghi was arrested by IRGC intelligence agents on the charge of espionage. After nine months in detention, he was released on bail. IRGC confiscated his passport as well as the passport of his wife, Bahareh Amidi, in order to prevent them from leaving the country.

An informed source told HRANA regarding Shargi’s arrest that “about 20 security agents— later it turned out that they were IRGC agents— raided his house in Tehran at night to arrest him and his wife. Mr. Sharghi was detained for nine months in Evin Prison awaiting his legal proceedings. Finally, he was temporarily released on bail”.

On November 30, 2020,  Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Salavati, sentenced him to 10 years in prison in a trial in absentia. He was charged with “espionage and collecting gathering military intelligence.” He was not summoned to attend the trial and was denied the right to defend himself.

In January of 2021, HRANA reported his arrest at the border area of Sardasht by IRGC intelligence agents during an attempt to flee the country.

He is currently spending his sentence in Salon 9 of Ward 8 in Evin Prison.

Ghalandari, age 40, is serving his sentence in the same ward. He was sentenced five years in prison on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security” by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. The verdict was upheld on appeal.

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Christian Convert Naser Navard Goltappeh’s Request for Retrial Rejected

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Freedom of Expression, News, Prisoners
Christian convert, christian converts in iran, Naser Navard Goltappeh, Religious Minorities, religious minorities in iran

Branch 9 of the Supreme Court rejected the imprisoned Christian convert Naser Navard Goltappeh’s request for a retrial for the fourth time. He is currently serving a 10 year sentence in Evin Prison. Despite suffering from oral and dental diseases and severe visual impairment, he has been denied medical treatment in prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, his lawyer, Iman Soleymani, called the Supreme Court’s decisions arbitrary and erratic. He told HRANA that “the Supreme Court issued its verdict regardless of defendant’s rights, which is in violation of citizen rights and the principle of legality of crime and punishments, the principle of innocence and Article 474 of the Criminal Procedure Code whereby different punishment in degrees for similar charges is not allowed”.

“His request has invoked the recent retrial of nine Christian converts which subsequently led to their acquittal”, he added. In November of last year, Branch 28 of the Supreme Court of Iran announced that promoting Christianity and forming a home church is neither a crime nor an act against national security.

On June 24, 2016, Naser Navard Goltappeh was arrested along with three people of Azerbaijan nationality. All four were interrogated for two months and detained in solitary confinement cells. After four months, they were released on bail of 100 million tomans. The Azerbaijani citizens returned to their country after the release.

Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced Goltappeh to 10 years in prison on the charge of “acting against national security by organizing an illegal home church”. The verdict was upheld on appeal on November 12, 2017.

He is currently serving his sentence in Ward 8 of Evin Prison.

Despite the fact that Christians are recognized as a religious minority under Iranian law, security forces nevertheless harass and prosecute Muslims who convert to Christianity.

The prosecution of Christian converts stands in blatant violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which state that every individual has the right to freedom of religion and belief and freedom to express it openly or secretly.

Inmate on Death Row Dies by Suicide in Lakan Prison

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News, Prisoners
Hossein Besazandi, prisoner suicide, Seyyed Ali Rezai, suicide

On February 23, an inmate on death row in Lakan Prison, Rasht City, died by suicide after a fight with his fellow inmate.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the inmate cut the artery in his wrist and lost his life.

HRANA has identified the inmate as Seyyed Ali Rezai, age 18, a resident of Someh-Sara City.

An informed source told HRANA: “Yesterday, at 4 pm, this inmate had a quarrel with his fellow inmate, Hossein Besazandi, age 20, who also has been convicted for murder and held in Ward 8 of Lakan Prison. In this fight, Hossein Besazandi was injured by a sharp object and lost consciousness due to wounds. After that, Ali Rezai, who thought he was dead, committed suicide.”

Political Prisoner Peyman Gholami Hospitalized Due to COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress

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News, Prisoners
Coronavirus, covid-19, Payam Shakiba, Peyman Gholami, Reza Mazaheri, Saeed Samimi, Seyed Hossein Taghavi

Political prisoner Peyman Gholami was dispatched from Evin Prison to a hospital in Tehran due to acute respiratory distress from COVID-19. Because of severe hypoxia, he has been transferred to the ICU.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Gholami has been hospitalized in the ICU of the hospital in Tehran.

According to an informed source, many inmates housed in Salon 10, Ward 8 of Evin Prison, including Saeed Samimi and Payam Shakiba, have shown COVID-19 related symptoms such as headache, dizziness and cough. Nonetheless, they have not been allowed to test. From them, Reza Mazaheri has tested positive, but has been denied of any medical treatment.

Amid the nationwide 2019–2020 Iranian protests, Gholami was arrested and sentenced by Branch 24 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court to five years in prison on the charge of “assembly and collusion against the national security.”

In November of 2019, an unprecedented increase in fuel prices sparked a wave of protests in dozens of cities across the country. The spokesperson of the Parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Seyed Hossein Taghavi, announced that 7000 people were arrested during these protests. According to reports of human rights organizations, hundreds were killed by regime forces.

Political Prisoner Soheila Hejab Hospitalized for COVID-19

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News, Prisoners
Coronavirus, COVID, covid-19, Soheila Hejab

On February 24, imprisoned political prisoner Soheila Hejab was hospitalized outside of prison due to her critical health condition.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Hejab, who is imprisoned in the women’s ward of the Correctional Center of Kermanshah City was dispatched to a hospital due to her critical health condition.

An informed source told HRANA that she fainted in a cell and her fellow inmates carried her to prison healthcare. Later, her fellow inmates were told that she has been hospitalized in a hospital outside the prison. The lack of info about her latest condition has increased her family’s concerns.

Recently, she has contracted COVID-19 along with 13 other inmates in her ward. Despite the requirement for treatment, prison healthcare had been closed due to absence of physicians.

Hejab was arrested by security forces on June 1, 2019, and then released from Evin Prison in Tehran on a bail of 3 billion tomans on March 14, 2020.

Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced her to 18 years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the regime”, “illegal assembly”, “incitement of public opinions to riot” and “organizing unlawful political groups”.

On May 23, 2020, the intelligence unit of the Revolutionary Guards arrested and transferred her to Gharchak Prison in Varamin City to serve her sentence. She was then transferred to Sanandaj Prison and then, on January 7, to the Correctional Center of Kermanshah City.

Final Verdict of 8 years and 74 Lashes Issued Against Narges Mohammadi

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Freedom of Expression, News, Prisoners
Narges Mohammadi, Taghi Rahmani

On February 20, Taghi Rahmani, husband of Narges Mohammadi, was informed that Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court issued their definitive verdict of eight years imprisonment, 74 lashes and other social deprivations against his wife. From her eight year sentence, Mohammadi will be imprisoned in exile for two years.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Mohammadi is a human rights activist and spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Center. Rahmani commented to HRANA that following Mohammadi’s refusal to request for appeal, the initial verdict was upheld definitively.

In recent days, she was hospitalized for a few days due to respiratory problems and then sent back to jail.

On November 16, 2021, she was arrested by security forces during her attendance at a ceremony honouring Ebrahim Ketabdar, who was killed by security forces in Karaj during the November 2019 protests. She was detained in a solitary confinement cell in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. On November 22, 2021, she was notified about the charges in Evin Courthouse.

On December 29, 2021, security agents raided and searched her house and confiscated some of her personal belongings.

She has already faced other arrests and convictions and was imprisoned from May 5, 2015, until October of last year, Mohammadi was imprisoned.

In January of this year, she was transferred from Ward 209 of Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin City.