Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – At least ten prisoners on death row in Rajai Shar (aka Gohardasht) Prison, in the city of Karaj (west of Tehran), have been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their execution. Their families have been reportedly granted a final visit.
Most of the prisoners were sentenced to death on murder charges. Barring an official *pardon from the families of the victims, officials will proceed with their executions.
As of the date of this report, HRANA was able to confirm the identity of one of these prisoners, Shahab Taghizadeh. The remaining prisoners’ names are still being confirmed.
According to Amnesty International’s annual report, Iran has the highest rate of executions per capita in the world.
The HRANA Statistics Center reported that between March 21, 2017, and March 18, 2018, in Iran, at least 322 persons were executed and 236 were sentenced to death. Among those executed, there were four juvenile offenders—under 18 years of age at the time of the offense—and 23 executions carried out in public. Moreover, more than sixty percent of executions have not been publicized, and are considered “secret” executions.
* In the Islamic penal code, families of murder victims have the option of Qesas (an-eye-for-an-eye), the receipt of blood money in return for sparing the life of the accused.
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Four political prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison (a.k.a Gohardasht), Karaj, have written an open letter to express compassion over the deaths of four environmental activists who lost their battle with the forest fires of Marivan, located in Kurdistan in western Iran.
The deceased activists — Sharif Bajour and Omid Kohnepoushi, both members of Chya Green Society, and Mohammad Pazhouhi and Rahmat Hakiminia, members of Marivan Environmental Office — were fighting wildfires near the Iraqi border in Salasi and Pileh. Marivan’s county governor revealed their cause of death to be asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation.
Two other activists, Mokhtar Aminejad and Mohammad Moradveisi, were injured in the same fire.
Below is the full text of their letter, translated into English by HRANA:
It is not my lot to die a natural death;
Better for the holy grail than in blissful sleep,
And on truth’s command, I welcome that death
which releases freedom from chains of darkness
It was with great shock and sorrow that we heard the news that Sharif Bajour and the others had perished; grief engulfed us like flames. We struggle to reconcile with the sad reality that the chestnut oaks of Zagros Mountain (1) have lost a dear friend.
Sharif Bajour, so appropriately named (2), leaves the Zagros bereft. He was a true friend to the mountains, plains, and forests of Kurdistan. Had he lived anywhere else on earth [but here], his death would have roused the lament of a nation. If the state-run media shrouds his death in silence, he remains an eternal hero in the hearts of the people. His loss leaves a void in the heart of his nation, who has seldom known so noble and gentle a soul as his. His new and creative path of resistance is his legacy.
Bajour’s resistance involved guarding the chestnut oaks of Zagros with his body and soul, biking for the cause of peace on earth, and staging a hunger strike outside the media spotlight.
As political prisoners of Gohardasht prison, we express our condolences to the families of this respectable man, as well as to the families of the other Zagros fire victims, whose names we regrettably do not know. We extend our deep sympathy to his friends and comrades from the Chya Green Association, to all those who care about the environment, and to the people of Kurdistan. They have lost some of the most honorable men of their time. Much like the fire that took their lives, the loss of these beloved souls has burned our spirit.
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – At least two death row prisoners in Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison were executed in the early morning hours of Wednesday, August 29, 2018.
HRANA was able to confirm the identities of the executed prisoners: Mojtaba Asadi, who was detained in Ward 3, and Vahidollah Loghmani, age 54, reportedly from Afghanistan. Asadi was sentenced to death on a charge of murder, and Loghmani for a charge of armed drug trafficking.
HRANA was also able to confirm the identity of two prisoners from a group of at least five who were transferred to solitary confinement on Tuesday, August 28, pending execution: Mojtaba Asadi of Ward 3 and Shamsali Abdollahi of Ward 10.
When the plantiff in Abdollahi’s case permitted his execution to be delayed until further notice, he was returned to his prior Ward.
The fate of the two other prisoners is not yet known. If they were put to death, their executions have not been announced by the state-run media as of the time of this report.
An annual report published by the Center of Statistics at Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) states that more than 60% of executions, called “secret executions,” are not disclosed by authorities. According to registered data from 2,945 reports by the Statistics, Publications, and Achievements Division of HRAI, in the past year (from March 21, 2017, to March 18, 2018) at least 322 citizens were executed and 236 others were sentenced to death in Iran. Figuring among these are the execution of four juvenile offenders and 23 public hangings.
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Rajai Shahr prisoner Arash Sadeghi, who despite severe physical symptoms was repeatedly denied medical treatment, has been diagnosed with bone cancer, a source close to the matter told HRANA.
Sadeghi, a civil rights activist, received his diagnosis after finally being transferred to a hospital last week for medical testing on a tumor in his arm. Hospital officials confirmed the tumor to be malignant, identifying it as chondrosarcoma.
Hospital oncologists recommended Sadeghi be immediately admitted to the hospital for further exams, biopsies, and pre-op procedures, HRANA’s source revealed. The source added, “The tumor is located in his right arm under the clavicle and scapula. Doctors have stated that the removal of the tumor and subsequent examinations will determine whether or not further surgeries or [post-op preventive] chemotherapy will be necessary.”
Chondrosarcoma is the most prominent malignant bone cancer in youth, affecting an estimated 100 patients per year in Iran. In this type of cancer, malignant tumors are composed of cartilage-producing cells that may arise spontaneously or from pre-existing benign tumors, most commonly in the pelvic, hip, and shoulder regions. Its cause is still unknown.
Pain and swelling are the primary symptoms of this type of bone cancer in its advanced stages. Unresponsive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, chondrosarcoma is most often treated with surgical excision of the tumor and its marginal cells. Patient prognosis for this specific type of cancer has improved dramatically in recent years.
On July 21, HRANA reported on Sadeghi’s transfer to a hospital in Tehran under heavy security control. Upon his arrival, hospital officials refused to admit him, stating the doctor was not available to see him; he returned to the prison without receiving medical attention.
Subsequently, Amnesty International issued a statement demanding immediate action be taken to attend to the medical needs of Arash Sadeghi, as he had been diagnosed with a potentially malignant tumor in his elbow.
Arash Sadeghi was sentenced to 19 years’ imprisonment by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. In December 2016, Sadeghi staged a 72-day hunger strike to protest the continued imprisonment of his wife, Golrokh Iraee.
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- At least five death row inmates in Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison have been transferred from their respective wards to solitary confinement, raising fear of their imminent execution.
Convicted of murder, the prisoners face the death penalty unless the families of their victims choose to pardon them, a stipulation of the Islamic penal code.
HRANA has been able to confirm the identities of two of the prisoners, Mojtaba Asadi from Ward 2, and Shamsali Abdollahi from Ward 10.
The HRANA Statistics Center has reported that between March 21, 2017, and March 18, 2018, at least 322 persons have been executed and 236 have received the death penalty in Iran. Among those executed, there were four juvenile offenders — under 18 years of age at the time of the offense — and 23 executions carried out in public. More than sixty percent (60%) of the executions have not been publicized, and are considered “secret” executions.
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Jafar Eghdami, a political prisoner who was arrested while attending a gathering in September 2008 commemorating the anniversary of the 1980’s mass executions of political prisoners, was released from Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison on August 13th after reaching the end of his 10-year sentence.
Jafar Eghdami was sentenced to five years in prison by branch 28 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Moghiseh, but his sentence was increased to ten years by an appeals court.
Jafar Shahin Eghdami was previously arrested multiple times by plainclothes and Intelligence forces during the student uprisings in July 1999. He was imprisoned for six years and released in May 2008.
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.
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – On the night of Tuesday, August 8, 2018, Ministry of Intelligence agents along with black-clad prison guards wearing face masks and anti-riot gear raided hall 21 of section 7 of Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison (Alborz province). This section of the prison holds dozens of Sunni minority prisoners jailed for their religious and/or political activism.
A source familiar with the raid told HRANA that around 11 PM on Tuesday, 30 Intelligence agents along with 50 prison guard forces attacked the ward and destroyed or confiscated all the personal belongings of the prisoners which they had bought with their own money.
The special guard forces reportedly insulted and desecrated the beliefs of the Sunnis in order to raise tension and provoke further violence. The prisoners were reportedly beaten up and then transferred to an open air area where they were kept until 2AM.
“The prisoners who were injured as a result of beatings were not transferred to the prison clinic except for three, Abdolrahman Sangani, Namegh Daldal, and Ayoub Karimi, who, due to heart disease and high blood pressure, were in a bad state or had lost consciousness. Two others, Soleyman Pirouti and Fouad Yousefi, were transferred to a hospital outside the prison due to their very poor health conditions,” the close source told HRANA.
The source also informed HRANA that Tohid Ghoreyshi, a Sunni prisoner from the city of Talesh (northern Iran) was transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison, a section of the prison under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence.
Reports indicate that, at least up until Wednesday night, access to water, electricity and phones were cut, and the prisoners were denied their open air time.
This was not the first instance of such raids, and prisoners in this ward have been subject to violent raids and destruction of their personal belongings many times in recent years.
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – From Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison, civil rights activist Arash Sadeghi has written an open letter in response to the assassination of Eqbal Moradi, an Iraqi Kurdistan political activist and the father of political prisoner Zanyar Moradi. In his letter, Sadeghi traces the domestic and foreign assassination campaigns that Iran has been orchestrating since February 1979.
As previously reported by HRANA, the dead body of Eqbal Moradi was found near the Iran-Iraq border in Penjwen, Iraqi Kurdistan. The three bullet wounds on his body marked the last of many attempts on his life.
The full text of Sadeghi’s letter, translated into English by HRANA, is below:
“The campaign to eliminate critics inside and outside the country started in the month of February 1979. It claimed the lives of hundreds of people associated with the previous regime, in addition to Sunnis, Baha’is, dissidents, and members of revolutionary political groups that challenged the new regime’s leadership. It continued during the vast oppression of the 1980’s, and with the mass murder of political prisoners in the Summer of 1988. After the [Iran/Iraq] war ended, it continued with a string of assassinations (known as ‘Chain Murders’) targeting the regime’s detractors and opponents.
Many names can be found on the blacklist: Mohammad Mokhtari, Dariush Forouhar, Parvaneh Eskandari, Mohammad Jafar Pooyandeh, Ali Akbar Sirjani, Pirooz Davani, Hamid and Karoon Hajizadeh, Masoumeh Mossadegh, Zohreh Izadi, and dozens of other dissidents.
But assassinations didn’t reserve themselves for critics and dissidents within Iran. In the past four decades, they followed dozens of opposition figures to European countries.
Ashraf Pahlavi’s son Shahriar Shafiq was the first to go down, killed in Paris in December of 1979. He had been convicted in absentia of “corruption on earth” [a capital crime in Iran] by Sadeq Khalkhali [a notorious judge of the early revolutionary period].
Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou and Abdollah Ghaderi were assassinated in Vienna, Austria during a negotiation with diplomats of the Islamic Republic.
Gholam Keshavarz was killed in Cyprus; Sedigh Kamangar in Ranya, Iraq; and Kazem Rajavi in Switzerland.
Efat Ghazi [spouse of a prominent Kurdish activist and daughter of the President of Iran’s ephemeral Republic of Mahabad] was assassinated in Vasteras, Sweden.
Abdolrahman Boroumand and Shapour Bakhtiar were killed in France.
Fereydoun Farrokhzad was assassinated in Bonn, Germany.
Mohammad Sadegh Sharafkandi, Fattah Abdoli, Homayoun Ardalan, and Noori Dehkordi were assassinated in a restaurant called Mykonos in Berlin. Then there was the bombing of the Jewish community center in Argentina…
Based on the statements of German prosecutors, the foreign-soil murders — right up to the Mykonos killings — were led by the [Iranian] regime’s top political figures. And it was only after trial, and the diplomatic crisis with European countries, that the assassination campaign came to a brief pause.
The chain murders came right behind the 1988 [mass] executions. It was only in the Khatami era, with its relatively open media atmosphere, that the public was sensitized to these murders. Ultimately it was declared that the assassinations were the work of high-ranking security officials, chiefly Saeed Emami. From the autumn of 1998, the murders carried on into the early 2000’s.
The overseas assassination campaign is back up and running; once again the alarm bell is sounding, and the campaign is accelerating forward.
This time around, they targeted Eqbal Moradi. We heard the shocking and bitter news of Eqbal’s death – he is the father of Zanyar Moradi, a political prisoner sentenced to death. [Eqbal] Moradi was an active human rights defender in the city of Penjwen. He collaborated with several human rights organizations, including the international “No To Executions” campaign, and raised funds for political prisoners and their families.
Rare is the human rights activist who hasn’t heard of Eqbal Moradi. I got to know him years ago, and I saw what he did for his dear son, his nephew (Loghman Moradi), and for all political prisoners. When Zanyar was 19 he was taken hostage with his cousin Loghman, simply because the Iranian security apparatus held a grudge against his father.
Zanyar and Loqman were sentenced to die without a fair trial. It’s now been ten years since they’ve been in prison. A flagrant injustice in the trial of Zanyar (a man I consider to be a symbol of resistance and honor): when witnesses were ready to attest to both [him and his cousin’s] innocence, the judge — who is but a rubber-stamp for the security apparatus — refused to accept their testimonies, without giving any legal reasons.
A flagrant injustice: they are hostages to a sinister plot of the security apparatus. Now the father is gone, and his death sounds the alarm of a renewed assassination campaign through Iraqi Kurdistan.
Make no mistake, the renewal of the assignation campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan would be rooted in the regime’s grudge against the opposition; they see the elimination of critics as legitimate, an expedient protection of the regime and of religious law. In the past year, four more Kurdish activists have been assassinated in Iraqi Kurdistan, in addition to Ahmad Mawlana Abu Nahez — known as Ahmad Neysi — an Ahwazi activist who was assassinated in the Netherlands.
Unfortunately, ever since the establishment of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), it has lacked a strong and independent government and suffered from partisan divisions. This, paired with the political-military presences in neighboring countries — especially the Islamic Republic, whose Hamzeh Base in Urmia [close to the border with Iraq] answers to the Quds Force, an operating arm of the assassination campaign abroad — has made Iraqi Kurdistan an easy target.
The silence of some countries in response to these assassination cases, or other countries’ official or unofficial endorsement of them, will empower Iran, with all of its human rights violations in-country, to eliminate dissidents abroad with greater ease.
This places a heavy burden on the officials of European countries.
In recent years, they’ve sent thousands of their own citizens to countries such as Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan to show their commitment to fighting state-sponsored terrorism and human rights violations.
If Western officials are serious about this commitment, they cannot rightly plead economic and trade interests as an excuse to turn a blind eye to operatives of this overseas assassination campaign, the very same people who eliminate dissidents within Iran’s borders. Any kind of silence or cooperation with the Islamic Republic enables domestic oppression and threatens the opposition abroad.
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Rajai Shahr Prison, located in the city of Karaj, is among the most deplorable prisons in Iran. According to Iran’s Prisons Organization, Rajai Shahr is intended to hold detainees convicted of violent crimes. Despite this, for years the Iranian authorities have been using Rajai Shahr to exile prisoners with a variety of charges, including political prisoners.
In recent years, there have been numerous reports about the unlawful actions of authorities at this prison. Such actions include colluding with organized crime, smuggling, organizing targeted assassinations, working closely with the prison mafia and ignoring the unlawful actions of security agents.
Based on thousands of published reports in the last four years and interviews with dozens of victims, HRANA has been able to identify the main human rights violators at Rajai Shahr Prison. The list includes authorities ranging from the head of the prison to the clerk of the prison shop.
Many of the problems in Rajai Shahr are rooted in the activities of criminal gangs inside the prison who are backed by the prison’s highest ranking authorities. Many of the Rajai Shahr Prison authorities adhere to the unlawful agendas of security agents for financial gain. Extrajudicial actions against political prisoners that are caused by this relationship include the denial of medical care, which can lead to death or the contraction of serious illnesses.
The list has been compiled based on thousands of reports in the last four years and interviews with dozens of victims.
Mostafa Mohebbi
Mostafa Mohebbi is the head of all prisons in the Tehran province.
Mostafa Mohebi is the head of all prisons in the Tehran province. Irregular inspections and the humiliation of political prisoners and their families are some of the unlawful acts under his direct order.
On July 30, 2017, more than 50 political prisoners were forcefully transferred from Hall 12, Section 4 of Rajai Shahr to Hall 10 (which is used to hold Sunni prisoners). During the transfer, prisoners were beaten up and their personal belongings were confiscated. The violent transfer occurred under the authority of Mr Mohebbi and Mohammad Mardani, then head of Rajai Shahr. While, according to the testimonials of some of the prisoners who were transferred, black market items such as television sets, refrigerators and food are regularly sold to prisoners with nonpolitical charges.
The living conditions for prisoners in Hall 10, Section 4 borders a crisis. Following a visit to this section of the prison by an official from the Prosecutor’s Office, it was ordered for the prisoners to be supplied with basic amenities immediately, but the order was ignored by prison authorities. When the prisoners protested against the neglect, they were informed that Mr Mohebbi had opposed the order from the Prosecutor’s office.
Mr Mardani and Gholamreza Ziyayi (Mr Mardani’s successor) say that limits forced on political prisoners and the confiscation of belongings were as a result of orders issued by Mr Mohebbi.
Mohammad Mardani
Mohammad Mardani (left) is the former head of Rajai Shahr Prison.
Mohammad Mardani is the former head of Rajai Shahr Prison who was promoted to a position in the Prisons Organization but still continues to have influence inside the prison. Many counts of human rights violations were reported during Mr Mardani’s time at Rajai Shahr. It was, for instance, reported that he had deliberately situated prisoners next to each other in order to instigate violence, which led to cases of suicide.
“Mardani is an intransigent dictator who uses various excuses to gain money from prisoners via the prison staff,” a prisoner tells HRANA. “For instance, if a prisoner does not wish to be transferred to a different hall, he can prevent the transfer by bribing prison staff with money to speak to Mardani on his behalf.”
According to reports, Mr Mardani was also known for preventing letters written by prisoners to reach the security department of the Prisons Organization.
Rostami
Rostami is the Deputy Prosecutor for political and security-related prisoners at Rajai Shar.
Rostami is the Deputy Prosecutor for political and security-related prisoners at Rajai Shahr. Mr Rostami only responds to the families of prisoners two days a week in addition to accepting monetary bribes from the families for small favors, such as sending a letter. Mr Rostami is known for rarely permitting visits to the hospital for ailing prisoners. In the first session of the trial of those charged with the armed attack in Tehran, Mr Rostami appeared as the Prosecutor’s representative and as a result, prisoners were able to identify him.
Hossein Ajak
Hossein Ajak is reportedly in charge of executions at Rajai Shahr.
Hossein Ajak is known to be in charge of the executions at Rajai Shahr and is notorious for beating up prisoners. He reportedly covers his face when executing prisoners, but those who were saved from execution were able to confirm his identity in interviews with HRANA. Mr Ajak is one of the two prison authorities who was recently tasked with transferring three political prisoners from Rajai Shahr to Imam Khomeini hospital and beating them up with a baton without any prior warning. The political prisoners reportedly issued a complaint against Mr Ajak to the hospital’s security department, but the prison authorities were able to justify their behaviour to the authorities at the hospital. In the trial for the political prisoner, Mohammad Salas, Mr Ajak was sitting with Mr Salas and was able to be identified as a result.
Vali Ali Mohammadi
Vali Ali Mohammadi is the internal manager and head of Section four of Rajai Shahr.
Also known as Ali Mohammadi, he is the internal manager and head of Section four of Rajai Shahr. Some prisoners claim that Mr Ali Mohammadi smuggles drugs into the prison by cooperating with criminal groups.
Prisoners claim that Mr Ali Mohammadi takes part in the beating of political prisoners and the destruction of their personal possessions. Mr Ali Mohammadi is also known for placing political prisoners with regular prisoners and tearing up books. Mr Ali Mohammadi reportedly works under the direct orders of He also says these are all done by direct orders of Mostafa Mohebbi.
Major Maghsood Zolfali
Maghsood Zolfali is the head of the special guard forces at Rajai Shahr.
Major Maghsood Zolfali is the head of the special guard forces at Rajai Shahr. This security apparatus has repeatedly attacked different halls in Rajai Shahr under the direction of Major Zolfali. During inspections, Major Zolfali is known for beating up prisoners and destroying their personal possessions.
Darzi
Darzi is in charge of prison inspections. Drugs are known to be widespread in Rajai Shahr Prison – especially heroine, methamphetamine and opium. Prisoners claim that it is the staff at Rajai Shahr who smuggle the drugs into the prison. Prisoners have told HRANA that Mr Darzi works with Mr Ali Mohamamdi and Mr Faraji (below) to smuggle drugs in via the prison shop and they divide the profits.
HRANA has obtained testimonies of former members of the prison gangs who have agreed to testify.
Faraji
Faraji is in charge of the prison shop. Prisoners have told HRANA that Mr Faraji sells shop items at trumped up prices and sells some items only to select prisoners who aide him in his unlawful activities. It has been reported that the shop at Rajai Shahr lacks fruits and vegetables while drugs are smuggled in and sold easily. Furthermore, Mr Faraji is known for helping smuggle in mobile phones for some prisoners.
Bagheri
Bagheri is in charge of carrying out executions at Rajai Shahr and is known as “The Executioner” by prisoners.
“There is an official in the prison named Bagheri who personally moves prisoners to solitary confinement in preparation for execution,” a prisoner tells HRANA. “On execution days, he personally takes the prisoners from solitary confinement to the gallows, places the noose around their necks and kicks away the chair.”
Nematollah Saadat Rasool
Nematollah Saadat Rasool is the head of the prison’s security department. In January 2018, HRANA had reported that prison authorities intended to place additional pressure on prisoners by refusing to provide them with heaters.
Prisoners claim that two other prison staff members, Keyvani and an unidentified individual, also smuggle drugs into the prison. This has been reported to Mr Saadat Rasool and Mr Bahraini, who is in charge of security at the Prisons Organization, but they have refused to conduct a follow-up investigation. Prisoners believe that Mr Saadat Rasool and Mr Bahraini are complicit in the smuggling of drugs into the prison.
Hassan Gord (Kordi)
Hassan Gord is the head of section 1 of Rajai Shahr. Mr Gord works with gangs inside the prison and has helped instigate clashes that have led to murder. In 2016, HRANA had documented the case of the prisoner, Babak Ghiasi, who was murdered in a prison fight. The latest case is prisoner and gang member, Vahid Moradi, who was murdered in Section 1 under the supervision of Mr Gord.
Mr Gord is known to be close to the head of a rival gang to that of Mr Moradi’s. On the morning of Mr Moradi’s murder, Mr Gord placed Sayid Salehi, one of the main suspects in the case of Moradi’s murder, in section 1. Prisoners in this section have testified that Mr Moradi was knifed and his transfer to the clinic was deliberately delayed, which led to severe blood loss and his death.
Gholmareza Ziyayi
Gholamreza Ziyayi (right) is the former chief of Rajai Shahr Prison.
Gholamreza Ziyayi worked at Rajai Shahr from September to October 2017 as the prison’s chief. Only a week after his appointment Mr Ziyayi took an unprecedented action of ordering the transfer of Baha’i prisoners to a section of the prison known as the “Annex”. This section was reportedly built to further punish select prisoners.
During his time at Rajai Shahr, Mr Ziyayi had reportedly boasted to prisoners that he was formerly in charge of the infamous Kahrizak Prison. Multiple political prisoners died and many were tortured in Kahrizak under his supervision.
Since December 2018, Gholamreza Ziyayi has been on the US sanctions list due to human rights violations.
