Tag: Evin Prison

Two New Cases Opened Against Nasrin Sotoudeh

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Prisoners
Evin Prison, iran human rights, Nasrin Sotoudeh, prisoner of conscience

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Payam Derafshan, the lawyer of prominent lawyer and human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh, has announced that two new case files have been opened against his client. Ms Sotoudeh is currently detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison.

According to a report by the state-run news agency IRNA, Mr Derafshan said: “My client was recently arrested after being convicted in absentia by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.” According to Ms Sotoudeh’s lawyer, she was charged with “Propaganda against the regime” and “Insulting the Supreme Leader”, but despite this, Branch 28 issued a ruling on the charge of “Espionage”.

According to Payam Derafshan, Nasrin Sotoudeh is currently serving a five-year prison term on the charge of espionage, which is not mentioned in her indictment. Ms Sotoudeh was previously arrested in September 2010 and sentenced to an 11-year prison term, a 20-year ban from practicing law, and a 20-year travel ban. Her sentence was reduced by an appeals court to a six-year prison term and a 10-year ban from practicing law. Nasrin Sotoudeh was released from prison after serving three years. She was arrested again in June 2018.

Narges Mohammadi Transferred to Hospital Following Deterioration of Health

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Prisoners
Evin Prison, human rights activists in iran, iran human rights, LEGAM, Narges Mohammadi, Prisoners of conscience

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Narges Mohammadi, Deputy Head of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders who is detained in Evin Prison, was transferred to the hospital early Monday morning following the deterioration of her health. On August 6th, prison authorities reportedly prevented her from seeing a neurologist.

Reza Khandan, husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh (also imprisoned in Evin), said in a note that during his last prison visit, Ms Sotoudeh had informed him of Ms Mohammadi’s critical physical condition and her urgent need to be transferred to the hospital. “Nasrin told me in a phone call that Narges Mohammadi suffered a seizure at 5:00 am and was sent to Imam Khomeini Hospital…” Mr Khandan said.

Narges Mohammadi was previously sent to the hospital on Saturday, June 30th and was returned to Evin prison on Thursday, July 5th after undergoing surgery.

According to Mahmoud Behzadirad, Ms Mohammadi’s lawyer, she suffers from bladder and gallbladder problems. “Six years and four months have passed since my client’s detention and there are around three years and eight months left on her sentence. However, despite the possibility of receiving the conditional release, her requests have not been approved so far,” said Mr Behzadirad.

In May 2016, a revolutionary court sentenced Narges Mohammadi to a 16-year prison term. The main accusation against her (making up 10 years of her sentence) was her cooperation to establish LEGAM, a campaign to abolish the death penalty. The court reportedly called her cooperation with the peaceful campaign as “creating a society aimed at undermining the security of the country”.

Ms Mohammadi stated that during her trial session, the judge was hostile and biased toward her and openly defended the allegations brought against her by Ministry of Intelligence officials. She said the judge accused her of attempting to change “divine laws” through her anti-death penalty activities. The other six years of Ms Mohammadi’s sentence are for the charges of “Gathering and colluding against national security” and “Propaganda against the regime”. The charges against Ms Mohammadi are based on media interviews she gave regarding human rights violations, her participation in peaceful gatherings to support families of prisoners on death row, her contact with other human rights defenders (including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi), her participation in peaceful protests to condemn acid attacks against women and her 2014 meeting with Catherine Ashton.

In September 2016, Branch 36 of the Tehran Appeals Court upheld Narges Mohammadi’s prison sentence. In May 2017, her request for a retrial was reportedly rejected by Iran’s Supreme Court.

Appeals Court Date Set for Imprisoned Evangelical Activist

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Prisoners, Religious Minorities
christians in iran, Evin Prison, Fatemeh Mohammadi, imprisoned christians, iran human rights, Majid Reza Souzanchi, political prisoners in Iran, Prisoners of conscience

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Majid Reza Souzanchi, 34, Christian convert detained in Evin Prison, has received a summons order to appear before Branch 54 of the Tehran Appeals court on December 11, 2018.

He was tried on April 25, 2018, along with Fatemeh Mohammadi for “Membership in Evangelical Groups and Evangelical Activities”, presided by Judge Ahmadzadeh. Mr Souzanchi was sentenced to five years in prison and Ms Mohammadi received a six-month prison sentence on charges of “Engaging in Evangelical activities” and “Acting against national security through propaganda against the regime”.

A source close to the defendants told HRANA that Mr Souzanchi suffered from broken ribs as a result of being beaten up twice during his interrogation by Intelligence Ministry agents. Souzanchi is also worried that his home was searched while he was in prison and some of his personal belongings and family photos were confiscated. He has written several letters [to the authorities] on the matter but has not received any response. In June, his prison cell was raided by agents who confiscated his personal belonging including a notebook in which he had written excerpts from the Bible.

Prison officials refer to Mr Souzanchi as “impure” and “Daeshi” (a member or ISIS). Mr Rostami, the Prosecutor’s representative, had told Mr Souzachi and Ms Mohammadi that “if we were in you Christians’ hands, you would have executed us”. Samad Hadipour, the investigator of Evin court’s Branch 3, referred to the church as a “casino”.

According to the Iranian Constitution, Christianity is a recognized religion. However, security apparatus in Iran are extremely sensitive toward Muslims converting to Christianity, and aggressively pursue evangelist activists.

Article 26 of the Iranian constitution guarantees religious minorities’ rights: “….recognized religious minorities’ associations are free [to exist]…and no one can be forced to participate in these associations or prevented from participating in one of them”.

Hassan Rouhani, Iranian President, during last year’s presidential election campaign stressed the importance of civil rights, and published a “Civil Rights Charter”. However, these promises have not been carried out.

Article 99 of the Charter states: “Citizens have the right to access facilities to participate in cultural life [of their choice], including the right to found associations, perform religious, cultural, and ethnic ceremonies as long as they respect the laws”.

“We still can’t believe it” Imprisoned Lawyer Reacts to Death of Homa Soltani

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Prisoners
Abdolfatah Soltani, Evin Prison, homa soltani, iran human rights, letters from political prisoners, Nasrin Sotoudeh, revolutionary court, saeed moratazavi

Human Rights Activists’ News Agency (HRANA) — Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist who has been detained in Tehran’s Evin prison since June 13th on charges of collusion and propaganda against the regime, has written an open letter in reaction to the sudden death of Homa Soltani, daughter of fellow Evin prisoner Abdolfattah Soltani who is also a lawyer and activist. Ms Soltani recently died from a heart attack at the age of 27.

Nasrin Sotoudeh is a prominent human rights lawyer who has a history of arrests and imprisonment for her outspoken defense of human rights. Below is the English translation of Ms Sotoudeh’s letter:

My darling girl, my dear Homa,

It has been three days since you flew away from this world and we still can’t believe it. In our disbelief, we still wish that it could be a lie. Ah, if only it could be a nightmare, if only…

The women’s prison mourns for you. You had lost the embrace of your father years ago, my dear one. You know what, Homa? A father’s embrace gives one security and you were without it for years. This was something no one else could give you.

Many only knew about the seven years that you had been deprived of your father thanks to the revolutionary courts of injustice. But as far as I remember, your father was always dealing with his cases – cases for activists, colleagues and those they made against himself. You were raised with this news around you, you grew up like this and anxiety filled your childish existence. The temptation of human rights, the rights of dissidents, the rights of the accused and the rights of this person or that didn’t leave your father, Abdolfattah Soltani, alone. He had so honestly given his honor to the community of lawyers that he had forgotten himself and his family; how sad is this story.

Your father was once sentenced to three months in prison. Another time, the revolutionary court of injustice gave him five years but the appeals court repealed it. But the machinery of violence didn’t stop working against this freedom-loving lawyer. During the election crisis of 2009, they once more sought him first and he had to spend two months in detention. He was freed and two years later again arrested. Prison, prison, prison…

I don’t think of what made your father tick because I know it so well. I think of the world of your childhood, your teenage years, your youth; how innocently it was crushed under the weight of our ideals and their violence.

My dear Homa,

What happened to you every time your father was arrested? To you, your sister, brothers and mother?

I have asked myself many times: If Homa had her father by her side every morning when she woke up; if her father took her to university, school or work on some days and was with her throughout her daily problems; if they had dinner together at nights and then slept under the same roof; would the same happen to Homa? No, never…

Nasrin Sotoudeh
Women’s Prison
August 2018

***

Abdolfattah Soltani, who is being held in Evin Prison, was granted a furlough to take part in his daughter’s funeral.

Amnesty International reacted to Homa’s death and asked for the immediate release of Abdolfattah Soltani and all human rights defenders.

On August 5th, Saeed Dehqan, Mr Soltani’s lawyer, wrote to President Hassan Rouhani to say his client had been arrested by the political decisions of people such as former judge Saeed Mortazavi.

Mr Soltani is spending his seventh year in Evin. He has contracted many illnesses in prison.

Abdolfattah Soltani was first arrested on September 10, 2011. He was accused of having accepted the International Nuremberg Human Rights Award, speaking to the media about his clients and taking part in the founding of the Center for the Defenders of Human Rights. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison and barred from practising law for 20 years. An appeals court reduced his sentence to 13 years and it was further reduced to 10 years based on the provisions of the new Iran penal code. His disbarring has also been reduced to two years.

Conditional Release for Political Prisoner Mohammad Mozaffari

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Prisoners
Evin Prison, iran human rights, judge Salavati, Mohammad Mozaffari, political prisoners in Iran, revolutionary court

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Mohammad Mozaffari, political activist serving a two-year sentence since June 18, 2018, was conditionally released from Tehran’s Evin Prison. A source close to Mr Mozaffari confirmed his temporary release to HRANA.

According to HRANA, Mr Mozaffari was sentenced on May 3, 2016, by branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Salavati, to a two-year prison term, a 2,000,000 Tomans cash penalty (approximately $600 USD) and 74 lashes. His lashing sentence was reportedly carried out on August 5, 2018.

Mohammad Mozaffari was arrested on February 15, 2015, and transferred to the Revolutionary Guard’s Intelligence Unit in Evin Prison. After three months of interrogations, he was transferred to Ward 8 of this prison until his release on July 12, 2015.

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Azerbaijani Activist Released While Another Remains in Prison

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Ethnic Minorities, Prisoners
azerbaijani activist in Iran, babak fort, Ebrahim Noori, Evin Prison, iran human rights, kiumars eslami, kiyomars eslami

Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) – Ebrahim Noori, an Azerbaijani activist from the city of Ahar who was arrested during the Babak Fort gatherings on July 2 and sent to Ward 209 of Tehran’s Evin Prison continues to be held after almost 40 days. Mr Noori is reportedly banned from contacting his family.
A source close to Mr Noori told HRANA that Mr Noori was only allowed to speak to his brother on the phone “for a few seconds”.
Born in 1991 in the city of Ahar, Mr Noori was previously convicted twice of “Acting against national security by waging propaganda against the regime.” He had received a combined suspended sentence of 16 months.
Babak Fort, a monument built during the pre-Islamic Sassanian period, is named after Babak Khorramdin, known for leading an uprising against the Abbasid caliphate in 893. In recent years, it has become a place of symbolic gatherings for Azerbaijani activists, especially during the annual commemorations in the first week of July.
Kiyomars Eslami, another Azerbaijani activist, was also arrested during the same annual gatherings. He was reportedly released on bail on August 9th.
Mr Eslami, who hails from the city of Moqan, was released on Thursday after a month in Moqan Prison. He posted a bail worth 120 million rials. He was arrested on July 4 and suffered bleeding in the head after he was beaten by Iranian authorities during interrogations. Mr Eslami had gone on a nine-day hunger strike which he began on July 28 in protest to the prison conditions and his unclear situation.
Ebrahim Noori is the only individual who remains detained from those who were arrested in connection to the Babak Fort gatherings.

Telegram Admin Hamidreza Amini Charged in Court Hearing

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Prisoners
Evin Prison, hamidreza amini, iran human rights, judge Salavati, telegram admin arrested

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – On Sunday, August 12, 2018, a court hearing was held for Hamidreza Amini, the admin of a telegram channel, in branch 9 of Tehran’s criminal court, presided by Judge Kashkuli. Mr Amini was charged with “Insulting the Prophet” and “Blasphemy”.

Mr Amini’s lawyer, Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, confirmed the news and told HRANA that he anticipates for the “Insulting the Prophet” charge to be dropped and that the outcome of the trial should be announced in the coming days.

On June 11, 2018, HRANA reported that a scheduled court hearing for Hamidreza Amini to investigate the charge of “Insulting the Supreme Leader and other high-ranking Iranian officials” was postponed by branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Salavati. The hearing was reportedly postponed based on Article 48 of Iran’s Penal Code and to give Mr Amini time to select a court-appointed lawyer.

An informed source had told HRANA in June: “During the court session, Hamidreza Amini said he would not answer any questions without the presence of his lawyer, Mohammad Hossein Aghasi. Judge Salavati responded that his lawyer’s name is not on the list of 20 court-appointed defense lawyers. As a result, Mr Aghasi was not allowed to attend the hearing. His trial was delayed until the appointment of a lawyer.”

On May 30, 2018, Hamidreza Amini was reportedly sentenced by Branch 57 of a new court focused on media crimes to pay approximately a $4,000 USD (40,000,000 Rials) fine for the charge of publishing lies (against officials, government organizations and institutions) with the aim of disturbing public opinion.

Hamidreza Amini has been detained since December of last year on charges of “Disseminating lies”, “Blasphemy” and “Insulting high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic”. He was arrested by security forces on December 2, 2017, and transferred to solitary confinement in Evin Prison’s Ward 2A, a section of the prison under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Sunni Prisoner of Conscience Namegh Deldel on Hunger Strike

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Prisoners, Religious Minorities
Evin Prison, Namegh Deldel, Rajai Shahr Prison

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Namegh Deldel, a Sunni prisoner of conscience detained in Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison (Hall 21 of Ward 7), has been on hunger strike since August 1, 2018, in protest to the lack of attention from authorities to his medical needs.

An informed source told HRANA: ”Mr Namegh Deldel has suffered from pain in his right thigh bone during the past seven months and was prevented from being sent to a hospital out of prison, which led him to begin a hunger strike.”

In July 2015, HRANA had reported on a 10-year prison sentence term which was issued by Irans Judiciary to Mr Deldel.

Namegh Deldel was previously imprisoned for three years in Rajai Shahr. After his release on April 18, 2014, he was arrested again in Bukan and eventually transferred to Ward 209 of Tehran’s Evin Prison, a section of the prison under the control of Ian’s Ministry of Intelligence, and then to Hall 21 of Ward 7 in Rajai Shahr Prison.

Prominent Human Rights Lawyer Granted Furlough Following Daughter’s Death

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Prisoners
Abdolfattah Soltani, Evin Prison, homa soltani, iran human rights, tehran iran

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) –  Abdolfattah Soltani, imprisoned human rights lawyer and activist, was granted temporary release from Tehran’s Evin Prison today to attend the funeral of his 27-year-old daughter, Homa Soltani, who died suddenly on August 3, 2018, from a heart attack.
A group of political and civil rights activists visited Mr Soltani’s home to convey their condolences to him and his family.
Abdolfatath Soltani is serving his seventh year of a ten-year prison sentence. During his incarceration, poor prison conditions, malnutrition, and lack of access to clean water led to various health problems for Mr Soltani including a broken tooth, psychological stress, irregular blood pressure, anaemia, and acute nervous colitis (nervous colon syndrome). His previous request for conditional release had been denied, and his appeals for a new hearing were ignored by the Iranian authorities.
Mr Soltani was arrested on September 10, 2011, and was subsequently sentenced to 18 years in prison and barred from practicing law for 20 years for accepting the International Nuremberg Human Rights Award in 2009, conducting interviews with media regarding his clients [who were mostly human rights, civil rights, student and political activists], and being a founding member of Defenders of Human Rights Centre. His sentence was eventually reduced by an appeals court to a 10-year prison term and a 2-year ban from practising law. 
The following video shows the moment Abdolfattah Soltani stepped into his home after years in prison:

Authorities Do Not Register Political Prisoners’ Requests in Evin Prison

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Prisoners
Evin Prison

HRANA News Agency – The requests of political prisoners in Evin prison including medical requests are not being officially registered and in most cases even not sent to the prosecution. Failing to register the requests and prisoners’ rights, has led to a lot of problems for them.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the requests of political prisoners in Evin prison including medical requests, furloughs and paroles, are not being addressed and in most cases even not sent to the prosecution. Continue reading “Authorities Do Not Register Political Prisoners’ Requests in Evin Prison”