Blogger Rojin Mohammadi detained

GVF — An Iranian blogger has been arrested after returning from the Philippines.

According to the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, Iranian blogger and student, Rojin Mohammadi, was arrested upon her return to Iran on 14 November and taken to Evin prison.

24 hours after her arrest, Mohammadi, who studies medicine at the University of Manila, was released on bail. Five days later, security forces raided her father’s home in Kermanshah province in an attempt to detain her, however she was absent at the time. Authorities summoned Mohammadi to Evin prison for questioning on 21 November and after three days of interrogation, they finally transferred her to Evin prison on Wednesday.

The charges against Rojin Mohammadi are still unknown.

Protester wounded in 2009 demonstrations dies from wounds

GVF — Another Green Movement protester wounded during the protests that erupted following the country’s 2009 presidential election has passed away in Boston, Massachusetts following a stroke.

Alireza Miandehi Sabouri, along with millions of other Iranians also outraged by what they saw as widespread rigging in the elections, had taken to the streets of the capital on 15 June 2009 to ask peacefully, “Where is my vote?” However, like many others on that unforgettable day, Alireza’s peaceful show of protest was answered with the barrel of a gun.

In the afternoon of 15 June, when he was just nineteen years of age, Alireza was trying to help rescue fellow protesters wounded in front of the Basij militia’s Ashura base, Battalion 117, when he was struck by a bullet and fell unconscious. He was then taken to Ibn Sina hospital in west Tehran for treatment.

Although he gained consciousness at the hospital, doctors were unable to fully remove the bullet from inside his skull. “The bullet exploded inside his head, a fragment left through an eyebrow, [but] the projectile stayed inside his skull while four shrapnel fragments were stuck. The projectile was extracted during a complicated and intense operation, but the fragments remained inside,” a family member told the Green Voice of Freedom on condition of anonymity.

Months after his operations, Alireza continued to suffer from numerous physical and psychological complications. He would experience recurring seizures either at home or on the street.

“We still have all of the evidence and Ali’s documents which show how they shot him in the forehead. The side-effects were due to the fragments in his brain. The two complicated brain operations led to his premature death,” the close relative explained.

Eleven months after he was first wounded, Alireza, accompanied by the family member, left Iran for Turkey to seek medical treatment through the UN office there. However, despite family pleas to relocate him to Germany where some of his relatives reside, the UN officials in Turkey rejected the family’s calls and instead decided to send Alireza to the United States. “We told them [the UN] time after time that he should be in Germany, close his relatives who could take care of him. But as usual, the UN completely ignored our calls and sent him to the US,” the family argued.

Nearly 900 days after being shot, Alireza Miandehi Sabouri died at the tender age of 22, 6,000 miles away from home in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was buried. “He passed away in a foreign land in silence and loneliness,” the family member continued. “He was treated unjustly both in Iran and abroad. We couldn’t take our complaint to any organisation.”

“You don’t know the fire that burns me from within, maybe you’re able to understand me. But at the very least you can write the truth [about Alireza] so that the world can know what they’ve done to us and how they’ve treated us. Everyone knows that Alireza was innocent, just like the many thousands of youth who were on the streets on 15 June. He was very innocent and did not deserve this.” 

Alireza had five older sisters while his only brother had died during Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq. It is also said that his father was reportedly close to the Iranian regime and did little to improve his son’s poor health.

“The death of Ali is not the death of a single person. For me it has a universal meaning. I hope that I can one day say what I have not yet said … I am filled with pain,” the relative told us.

While the exact casualty figures from the 2009 anti-government protests are still unknown, the tragic death of Alireza Miandehi Sabouri 2 ½ years later is yet another reminder of the brutality and heartlessness exercised by the Iranian regime in quelling dissent.

Baha’i Citizen Farhood Eshtiyagh Incarcerated for the Past 5 Months

Farhood Eshtiyagh has been in prison since June without an arrest warrant. According to the Human Rights House of Iran, he is held in Mashahd prison after 4.5 months of detention.

he is suffering from heart problems and Guuillain-Barre Syndrome. The judicial authorities prevent his release.

In October, his arrest warrant was extended twice. He was granted prison visits twice during this time and his children are awaiting his release. His family has traveled to Mashhad several times in order to follow up on him.   

'Iranian prisons holding 8 times maximum capacity,' says official

GVF — Prisons in Iran are currently overcrowded as much as eight times their maximum capacity, according to a report by the reformist Shargh daily.

Describing the poor prison conditions in the country, the newspaper said that in some cases, some 800 inmates were being held a single prison whose maximum capacity was 100 detainees.

“The country’s prisons can hold up to 55,000 inmates, but there are currently more than 220,000 prisoners,” says Iran’s head of Prisons Organisation. Less than three months ago, Gholamhossein Esmaili announced that since he took over as the country’s prison chief a year and a half ago, the number of prisoners in the country had risen by 55,000.

Citing a member of the Iranian parliament’s judicial commission, the newspaper said the condition of some of the prison complexes made them “inoperative,” raising the vulnerability to diseases under poor hygienic condition.

“At the moment, the number of prisoners is four times the capacity, and in some places, the number of inmates is as much as eight times bigger. This means that in a prison that can hold up to a hundred detainees, 800 are being held. This is something we can see in smaller cities,” Yousefian told Shargh.

While acknowledging the need for more prison space, he asked “with the changing laws on a global scale, is there really a need for so many prisoners?”

According to Shargh, on 30 April, Younes Mousavi, another member of the judicial commission of the parliament, voiced similar concerns regarding overcrowded prisons, claiming that some prisoners were forced to sleep in prison corridors due to a lack of space.

Brother of slain protester Kianoush Asa detained

GVF — The brother of Kianoush Asa, one of the protesters slain during the clampdown on anti-government protesters in 2009, has been detained.

According to opposition website Jaras, Aziz Daneshvar Asa, has been arrested and is currently being held by the Revolutionary Guard in Kermanshah. It’s still unclear why Aziz had been arrested, the family told Jaras.

Agents from the Revolutionary Guard reportedly went to Asa’s house on Friday and summoned him for a “number of explanations.” Nevertheless the family allege that “Aziz went there at 9:30am and never returned home.”

On 15 June 2009, Kianoush Asa, Aziz’s younger brother, was killed during massive protests in Tehran against the results of Iran’s disputed presidential election. The family could not identify Kanoush’s body until eight days later. He had been shot twice.

Thus far, the family’s efforts to identify Kianoush’s killers have been futile.

Since his tragic death, the Asa family, have been continuously harassed and intimidated by the authorities. Despite being summoned numerous times, this is the first time that Aziz has been imprisoned, the family explain.

Mehdi Mahmoudian was transferred from Rajaee Shahr Prison to a hospital

Mehdi Mahmoudian, an imprisoned journalist and member of the Participation Front political party, was transferred from Rajaee Shahr Prison to a hospital in May 2011 and will undergo surgery Thursday morning. In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a source close to the prisoner who asked for anonymity for security reasons said, “Mehdi suffers from serious blood pressure fluctuations and keeps having seizures. Only since yesterday have the doctors been able to stabilize his blood pressure. He will undergo surgery on Thursday. Finally, a whole year after his illness and his requests for treatment, the Tehran Prosecutor gave him permission to leave prison.”

Mahmoudian, one of the individuals responsible for disseminating information about the events at Kahrizak Detention Center, was arrested on 16 September 2009 at his home. He was initially detained at Evin Prison, but was moved to Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj. Mahmoudian was sentenced to five years in prison on the charge of “assembly and collusion against the regime.” He wrote a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader about the horrific prison conditions, including the occurrence of rape, at Rajaee Shahr Prison.

“When he was in Evin’s Ward 209, on many nights they sent him to the prison yard without any clothes. This was in December when it was very cold and he spent many nights until morning under the rain. He developed respiratory problems since then and complained numerous times, asking to be sent out of prison for treatment. The Evin Prison infirmary did not even give him medicine. After a while the prison guards wanted to transfer him to a hospital with foot cuffs, but he did not agree to being transferred like this,” the source told the Campaign.

“Mehdi’s situation kept worsening in Rajaee Shahr Prison, until finally last May they transferred him to the hospital. According to the doctors, he has lost a large part of his lung capacity and there is nothing that can be done for him. He will have to live with his half lung now. But since last December, he also developed a fluctuating blood pressure, to the point where several hours each day he would lose consciousness. Prison doctors said that he needs an immediate brain scan and must be immediately transferred to the hospital, but in order to leave the prison he needed permission from the Prosecutor. It took nine months to receive this permission. His transfer was further delayed for a month because they wanted to take him to prison with foot cuffs and Mehdi resisted this, until the prison authorities agree to transfer him without foot cuffs,” the source added.

According to this source, many political prisoners at the Rajaee Shahr Prison are also suffering from poor prison conditions.

“The political prisoners’ ward of the Rajaee Shahr Prison has 30 rooms that are 2 square meters each and are situated along a large corridor. There are no exits at the beginning or end of the corridor, and the prisoners have no contact with each other. This ward houses 60 political prisoners who are forced to spend 21 hours a day next to each other in a cramped space without any connection to the outside world. During the day, the prisoners are allowed only three hours of fresh air. In the cold and hot seasons the time spent outside is during the coldest or hottest times of the day, during which most prisoners do not want to leave their cells. Also, contrary to the procedures that allow prisoners to write to their families twice per month, none of their letters ever reach their families, and after several months the letters are returned to the prirsoners undelivered,” the source said. Many of the political prisoners at this prison have remained unidentified, and up until now the media had not spoken to their families, according to the source. The prisoners are subjected to extra mistreatment and harassment. Many have been beaten and insulted by other prisoners and prison authorities.

The source told the Campaign that prison authorities have commissioned prisoners to beat imprisoned student Ali Ajami many times, causing black bruises under Ajami’s eyes and on his face. Prison authorities not only failed to investigate his complaints but they transferred him to solitary confinement after he complained.

The source added that Issa Saharkhiz, also imprisoned in Rajaee Shahr Prison, is not in good condition and has been assaulted by the other prisoners many times. Previously, prison physicians told him that he might have cancer and that he must be tested for it, but it took three months before he was taken for testing. “Rajaee Shahr Prison is well known to be the worst prison in Iran, but apparently they have made the conditions even worse for political prisoners. They have made a hell inside another hell for them.”

“The prisoners have no in-person visitation, and if they ever are lucky enough and get a visit, in reality it is a behind-the-wall visit, meaning they are not allowed to shake hands or kiss their visitors, something similar to a cabin visit,” the source said.

Aliakbar Javanfekr was arrested for 1 year prison sentence and....

Javanfekr

Aliakbar Javanfekr, Ahmadinejad's media advisor and Head of IRNA, Islamic Republic News Agency, Iranian Government's Official News Agency, was arrested this morning by security forces trying to enforce the 1-year prison sentence against him issued by Iran's Judiciary. But Javanfekr's entourage apparently scuffled with security forces and there were reports of tear gas fired and several people arrested. There were also conflicting news about the whereabouts of Javanfekr but latest news indicate Javanfekr has been released upon involvement by Ahmadinejad and pressure on Judiciary.

Javanfekr's indictment was on the surface related to an old article about Chador, the black garment veil imposed by traditionalist Islamic scholars on Iranian women. But his most recent interview with Etemad Publication, is cited by observers as the main reason for Iran's Judiciary taking actions against him. In his interview, Javanfekr had warned Ezheyee and other powerful conservative clerics in the Judiciary to "practice silence" before it is too late and their secrets are revealed and "beans are spilled" by Ahmadinejad!

Iranian Judiciary is controlled by conservative clerics close to Iranian leader. During the recent $3 billion embezzlement scandal, Ahmadinejad and his team stood up against accusations by the Head of Judiciary (Ayatollah Larijani) and his brother the Speaker of Iranian Congress (Ali Larijani).

Iran's leader Ayatollah Khamenei has been at odds with Ahmadinejad who had said earlier this year he would break his silence if the "red lines" are crossed. He has defined "red lines" as arrest or harassment of any of his cabinet members or advisors.