Human Rights House of Iran – Blogger and journalist, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was allowed a prison visit with his family, after his mother staged a hunger strike outside Tehran’s Evin Prison.
Ronaghi’s family, who had been informed of his critical physical condition during a phone call earlier, had asked Tehran’s Prosecutor in a meeting to authorize a face-to-face prison visit for their son. Their requests were turned down by the prosecutor.
One of Ronaghi’s relatives told a RAHANA reporter, “The prosecutor’s refusal to authorize the visit coincided with news of Ronaghi’s hunger strike, along with Tavakoli and Goudarzi, being widely published by the media. The family who was aware of Ronaghi’s kidney problems insisted on having a prison visit with their son.”
The relative went on to say, “After she heard the negative answer to the family’s visit request, Hossien’s mother decided to go on a hunger strike.”
Ronaghi’s mother vowed to continue her hunger strike outside Evin until she was allowed to visit her son. She was told by intelligence agents that she could continue for as long as she wanted, but she would not achieve anything by staging a hunger strike.
Eventually, after a few days of hunger strike when she saw that the authorities were not going to address her demands, Ms Ronaghi became more vocal and her protests became louder. In order to defuse the situation which was becoming increasingly tense, prison officials took Ms Ronaghi inside where she met with a judge who authorized a face-to-face visit for Ronaghi.
During the visit, Hossein asked his mother, who suffers from heart problems, to end her hunger strike. He was then taken back to solitary confinement. This was the 3rd time in 6 months that the blogger visited with his family. He is said to be in weak physical condition and has difficulty speaking.
Ronaghi’s investigation is going through its final stages and his interrogation will reportedly end this week.
Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was arrested in December 2009. On May 24, after he started a hunger strike, he was placed in solitary confinement, where he remains to this day.
Documentary publication / video testimony of Bahram Tasviri Khiabani, a prisoner tortured and raped in Rajai prison in the town of Karaj.
HRANA News – one of the prisoners in Rajai prison in the city of Karaj discussed the abuse and sexual assault he has endured. He hopes to spread his story and the injustices inflicted on him.
This video was taped in Rajai prison in Karaj during the end of the month Ordibehesht (around May 20, 2010). Due to security reasons, we are not able to discuss how we obtained the video. The person in the video is still detained in Rajai Shahr prison:
In the name of God, I am Bahram Girovani, the son of Mohammad. I went to the security offices to file a complaint about a situation. The day I went, Mr. Akharian (head of ward 1 in Rajai Shahr prison) got angry and threatened me. He hit me even though I begged him not to.
I asked him to please let me get in touch with my family. He said he would do it himself and asked for my number. He got my number and called my mother. He told my family that Bahram is dead and that they need to come to the hospital to pick up the corpse.
I was told that when my mother heard this news, she had a heart attack and got very sick. My family went to the hospital where they were told I wasn’t dead and they realized they had been lied to.
I was asked about who I gave my house number to and I responded that I had given it to Mr. Akharian. They said they would keep me for five days, and after a week, I asked them to please give me permission to get in touch with my family and allow me to take my medications. I had been under a physician’s care and was taking about 15 pills due to a medical condition, but they took those pills away.
I wasn’t feeling well and begged them to let me speak to someone in charge, but they did not allow me to do that. I got so sick both physically and mentally that I wanted to die. I attempted to light myself on fire, but they stopped me and sprayed tear gas in my cell. Then they opened the door and hit me in my face with batons. They used a fire extinguisher to put the fire out. When they sprayed the tear gas over the fire extinguisher gas, I wasn’t able to see anything anymore. I felt like I was going blind and I could barely breath.
They suddenly opened the door and started beating me in my face with wooden batons. Mr. Mirzaghayi, Mr. Zeynali, Mr. Yousefi and Mr. Moradi had all come and they were the ones beating me with batons. All of a sudden I saw that Mr. Moradi was holding a knife. I don’t know if he had just found it or if he had brought it to stab me. I don’t know.
I hit him hard in his hand and the knife fell to the ground. I picked it up to defend myself, but I had no chance to defend myself.
They all attacked me and hit me more, then they took me to a very dark room with no cameras. They beat me harder, tied me up, blindfolded me, tortured me, took my clothes off, hung me, and inserted batons inside of me. I kept pleading with them, begging them, asking them, “Isn’t there a God. Isn’t there a Prophet?” They responded, “We are God and we are the Prophet.”
I asked them if there was someone in charge in the place. They responded that they were they ones in charge. Mr. Mirzaghayi replied, “I have orders. I have orders from Mr. Akharian who has given me permission to do whatever I want.”
They kept beating me with their batons until they broke my legs. I was then taken into a room and left there all night, still naked with my hands tied behind my back. I was suffocating and in great pain because of my broken legs. By morning, my broken legs were bleeding badly and I begged them to take me to the prison clinic, but they refused.
After a month, the wound in one of my legs was infected all the way to my bone. They finally had to take me to the prison clinic. The doctor refused to touch my leg because it was so badly infected. I begged the doctor to help me. The doctor said if they performed surgery I would have to stay there to recover and they had been told that they were not allowed to keep me there for recovery. He didn’t want to take care of me, but I begged him. I kissed his hands and his feet.
Then I told him I would lodge a complaint against them. I asked him if Mr. Akharian had given the orders and he replied yes. Mr. Akharian had told him not to perform surgery. Mr. Gerami and Mr. Ali Mohammadi came. They all said it was out of their hands because they were under the strict orders of Mr. Akharian. So again I resorted to threatening them and said I would lodge a complaint.
I finally convinced them to let me receive an operation.
They took me back to solitary confinement until the day of my operation. I was in the prison clinic for four days.
Mr. Mirzaghai came to visit me and said, “That place where we stuck the batons into you still has not healed. Too bad. Does it hurt? We’re going to make it worse. Why did you have to complain? Why did you complain to the infirmary?”
The night before my operation they gave me some kind of pill that made my mouth go completely crooked. I wasn’t able to talk at all.
The doctors said to me, “That day when you got in all that trouble with those guys, you should have known better than to mess with them. They are the ones who told us to give you this medicine and do this to you. Now look at you. You are not allowed to make a phone call. You are not allowed to talk. You are not allowed to have any visitors. We’re taking care of you, but you don’t even deserve it. We should kill you. Just like we did with Siamak Bandeloo and other people who we killed by injection. We should kill you too.”
When they performed the surgery on me they shaved a large portion of my bone off, they cut the flesh, and they put a cast on it.
Yesterday when I came out, I was beaten again. They kept telling me I should have never complained. Mr. Mirzaghayi beat me up all over my body with a baton. I kept begging him to stop hitting me and I kept asking him why he is beating me again. He psychologically devastated me by cursing at me with very dishonourable words. He took away my dignity in front of all the other prisoners.
Then he dragged me and took me to Mr. Akharian. He told me if I don’t shut up they will continue to treat me like this. He said he would even bring my whole family here and throw all of them in prison too. “How dare you lodge a complaint,” he kept saying. He told me that if I consent to what they say, they would help me out. But if I refused, they would crush me, and this time, they would kill me.
Today they took me back to Mr. Akharian. They threatened me again and asked me to agree to their demands. They said, “If you don’t do it, not only will you not achieve anything, we will kill you and we will just throw your corpse out of here. There is nothing you can do here. The law enforcer is with us. He isn’t going to acknowledge anything that happened to you; not your broken legs and not the baton that we stuck into you. We are the ones in charge here. We tell them what to say.”
They also told my family that Rajai Shahr prison runs on its own. There is no authority over the prison. How about the head of the whole country, I wondered. But in this prison there is no government. There is no Islam. Here they kill people the same way they drink water. Here they have tortured people much worse than they have tortured me. They just beat everybody. They have tortured so many people, after which they force them to say whatever they demand. If anyone dares think of complaining, they will torture him even more.
Prisoners get thrown in a dark camera-less room that no one knows of and they get beaten up. If anyone asks about the prisoner, they lie and say he is at the infirmary or somewhere else. In that room, you are not given water, bread, or anything. There is no toilet.
There is just no logic to anything that the prison officials do. This place is worse than Kahrizak. There are no human rights here. There are no human beings in charge. There is no law.
There is nothing here. There is nothing.
They just kill people like they are drinking water.
Judge Moghiseh: If Bahareh Hedayat is not to be in prison, then who should be instead?
May 27, 2010
Judge Moghiseh believes that Bahareh Hedayat deserves to be in prison more than anyone else. The following is the foundation of his argument.
Amin Ahmadian, Bahareh Hedayat’s husband, said in an interview with Rooz regarding his wife’s status, “Overall, she is well. She is detained in a public cell with 24 other prisoners and is able to call home. She is with Hengameh Shahidi, Badrolsadat Mofidi, Mahdieh Golroo, Atefeh Nabavi, Mahboubeh Karami, Alieh Eghdamdoost, Masoomeh Yavari, Zahra Jabari, Shabnam Madadzadeh, and others.”
Ahmadian noted that Hedayat was denied the possibility of parole because she is considered a threat to national security. Hedayat’s family was told that one of the people in charge of her file argued against her release.
Judge Moghiseh said to Hedayat’s family, “Why would we release Bahareh? If we were to do that, then who would we keep detained in prison?”
Ahmadian is hoping that after enduring five months in prison, his wife will be permitted for release.
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17 Kerman University Students Arrested
In conjunction with Ahmadinejad’s visit to Kerman, 17 students from Kerman University were arrested.
The reason for the arrests was because the students were allegedly planning a protest against Ahmadinejad’s visit to the university. There is still no news regarding the location of the 17 students.
Another eight student activists who came to Bahonar University in Kerman were also arrested by security forces.
In addition, 34 student activists from Bahonar University in Kerman were contacted by telephone or summoned to the intelligence ministry in Kerman. They were threatened to not get in the way of Ahmadinejad. They were told that they were not allowed to be in the university when Ahmadinejad was there, and if they complained or caused any problems, there would be serious consequences against them.
***
Polytechnic University: Ali Salem sentenced to two years prison
According to the Socialist Students website, Ali Salem, a leftist student activist at Polytechnic University, was sentenced to two years in prison. Salem was a senior undergraduate student. He was arrested on Student Day December 7, 2009.
Human Rights House of Iran – Rights activist, Koohyar Goudarzi, was taken to Evin’s clinic, after his condition deteriorated as a result of a hunger strike.
Kouhyar Goudarzi was taken to Evin’s clinic, after his condition deteriorated as a result of his ongoing hunger strike. Goudrzi, who had recently been moved back to solitary confinement, is being administered fluids intravenously.
Talking to a RAHANA reporter, Goudarzi’s mother said, “Today I went to the prison to visit with him, but was told by the officials that he was not allowed to receive prison visits while he was in solitary confinement.”
According to Goudarzi’s mother, he has not contacted his family in 15 days, and there is no information about his condition.
Ms Mokhtareh went on to say, “On my way back, someone called me from Evin to say that Koohyar was taken to the prison clinic after he lost consciousness as a result of hunger strike.”
Ms Mokhtareh said that in a letter she has asked the Tehran Prosecutor’s office to authorize prison visits for her son, but has yet to receive any answer.
Criticizing the way intelligence agents treat the prisoners in Evin, Ms Mokhtareh said, “What crime have our children committed that they now have to go on hunger strike in prison? We did not raise our children to be taken and incarcerated hungry and thirsty in Evin’s solitary cells.” Kouhyar Goudarzi, a member of the CHRR, was moved back to solitary confinement at ward 240 on May 20, after he protested the actions of the ward 350 head.
Majid Tavakoli and Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki are 2 other prisoners who are on the 5th day of their hunger strike in Evin’s solitary cells.
Human Rights House of Iran – On the 5th day of his hunger strike, Majid Tavakoli has started bleeding in the stomach, while there is no information on the fate of Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki who also went on hunger strike 5 days ago.
Concerns mount over the physical conditions of Majid Tavakoli and Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki as they enter the 5th day of their hunger strikes. Tavakoli, who suffers from lung problems, is said to be in critical condition, has started to bleed in the stomach and is no longer able to speak.
On May 23, Tavakoli started a hunger strike to protest his transfer to solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin Prison. Many human rights and political activists have joined Tavakoli in his hunger strike, and have staged sit-ins outside Iranian embassies and offices of international organizations.
According to RAHANA, there is no information on the fate of Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki. His parents have come to the capital to seek information, but their efforts have been to no avail.
Ronaghi-Maleki was last heard of 2 days ago, when he was in his 3rd day of hunger strike. During a short phone call to his family, the blogger was not able to speak, and his family could not understand his words.
Majid Tavakoli, a student activist, was arrested on December 7, 2009, and subsequently sentenced to 8 years in prison. Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki remains detained at Ward 2A of Evin Priosn, since his arrest on December 13, 2009.
In a press release on May 25, Reporters and Human Rights Activists of Iran announced that they hold the Iranian authorities responsible for the safety and health of both activists.
Human Rights House of Iran – On May 24, Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki was placed in solitary confinement, 3 days after he started a hunger strike to protest his arbitrary detention.
On May 24, blogger, university student and human rights activist, Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki (Babak Khorramdin), was placed in solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin Priosn, 3 days after he started a hunger strike to protest his ongoing arbitrary detention and the lack of medical treatment.
According to a RAHANA reporter, Ronaghi’s relatives have said that he is in poor health and his severe kidney problems have remained untreated.
In a short phone call, which was arranged by intelligence agents, Ronaghi told his parents (who are not Tehran residents) that he is under pressure as a result of their presence in the capital as well as their efforts to seek information. The blogger said that he has been ordered to ask his parents to return to their city. Ronaghi’s cough bursts disrupted the short phone call repeatedly, making it impossible for his parents to understand his words.
Intelligence agents and interrogators have in the past put Ronaghi under pressure on several occasions to force him into making false televised confessions; the rights activist, however, remains defiant and has refused to collaborate with the interrogators.
Ronaghi has been allowed 2 face-to face visits with his family during his 6 months of detention, is still under interrogation, and has yet to be tried.
Human Rights House of Iran – Officers from the Emergency Unit and the Moral Security Police cracked down on young Iranian men and women to enforce a government program that aims to fight “chastity offenders.” During the operation, at least 30 cars were impounded and their passengers were given receipts to reclaim their vehicles at the Emergency Unit later.
The joint operation was conducted on Golbarg Avenue in East Tehran and involved a large number of officers. The officers stopped any car that, in their view, was causing trouble for women or was carrying passengers who were improperly dressed.
The operation drew the attention of local residents who were then warned by officers to leave the scene of the roadblock.
According to Fars News, Mahmoud Zoghi, the Attorney General for the city of Mashhad, stated in a news conference that “bad hijab” women will be fined up to $30,000 USD. The fine which went into effect in March 2010 also applies to men (as he claims) who engage in immoral public behavior.
Zoghi also asked to create a forbidden area in Imam Reza’s sanctuary that is closed off to corrupt and immoral people.
VOA: Tehran’s Prosecutor has accused Ali Saremi, Mohammad Ali Haj Aghai, and Jafar Kazemi of affiliation with and acting as sympathizers toward hypocrites. This interview is regarding the death sentences these three political prisoners.
In a phone interview with my colleague Payam Yadian, the wife of Ali Saremi explained that she feels the death sentence for her husband is unjust. She asks for help from the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
Mrs. Saremi: Yesterday, we went to visit my husband. My husband seemed to have found out through interviews with Iranian TV. Then he told us that the news is in the papers too. My husband was arrested in September 2007 for going to east Iraq to…
VOA: Yes, but he did give a speech there and he did declare himself a follower of the Mojahedin organization.
Mrs. Saremi: Yes, after that, we got a lawyer. Mr. Hosseini is our lawyer. He has been present at my husband’s court dates….
VOA: And yet the lawyer was not aware of his client’s death sentence?
Mrs. Saremi: No, he didn’t know. They didn’t tell him. But three days after Ashura, they brought my husband’s death sentence to the prison to inform him, but my husband didn’t accept it. He stated that he has a lawyer and they should deliver the sentence to the lawyer. They never notified his lawyer of the sentencing. As far as they are concerned, the death sentence is confirmed.
We were stunned. That afternoon we went to his lawyer and told him what happened. The lawyer was very upset. He said, “What does this mean? We haven’t even had a chance to protest or object. How can it be possible for him to receive a death sentence in this manner?”
VOA: Mrs. Saremi, it is believed that stemming from the coup elections, we are now witnessing new types of sentences. The crime of ’Moharebeh’ has been issued to many prisoners. Please tell us, has your husband requested a pardon? Because the Attorney General of Tehran has suggested that some people who received death sentences have requested pardons.
Mrs Saremi: No, my husband has not requested a pardon. He has not done anything for them to execute him. How is it possible to receive a death sentence from visiting the grave of a friend at a cemetery? He did not have a weapon nor did he kill anyone to request a pardon.
VOA: Mrs. Saremi, you have also been arrested by security forces. What were you accused of?
Mrs Saremi: With my husband, we had gone to east Iraq…
VOA: Why were you set free but your husband remains incarcerated?
Mrs Saremi: Yes, they detained me for two months, then let me go without any charges. Every often they call me and come up with excuses to call me again.
VOA: Do you think, considering your child is in the Ashraf organization and is working with the Mojahedin Khalgh Organization, that this is connected to your husband’s death sentence?
Mrs Saremi: Absolutely, there is a connection. My husband hasn’t done anything. My husband has already paid for the crime of visiting Camp Ashraf when he was arrested in 2005 and served his sentence until 2007.
Voice of America interviews son of Jafar Kazemi, a prisoner sentenced to execution.
UPDATE | January 24, 2011: The Islamic Republic of Iran executed Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaie.
Voice of America- One of the people on death row is Jafar Kazemi whose son resides in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. Camp Ashraf residents face many problems and we have reported on this in the past. But today, this is not our discussion. We will now go to Mr. Behrouz Kazemi (Jafar Kazemi’s son)
Behrouz Kazemi: Hello to you and your dear viewers.
VOA: Mr. Kazemi, as an Iranian who lives outside Iran and who lives in a place like Camp Ashraf, with whatever beliefs and opinions you have, which is not what our discussion is about, as a human being who has heard the news of your father’s sentence, what are your feelings?
BK: When I heard of my father’s execution sentence, for me, as his child, it was extremely difficult to hear that he was arrested and sentenced to death after visiting me in Camp Ashraf. The news was very difficult for me to hear.
VOA: What is he being accused of? We hear that one of his ‘crimes’ is that he visited you.
BK: Yes. As you know, the regime has sentenced six people to death and one of them is Jafar Kazemi. My father was arrested on Qods Day during the demonstrations. For two weeks, we did not have any news of his situation. Eventually we discovered that my father was detained in Evin prison. Approximately four months after that, in a show trial, my father was sentenced to death. We heard the news through his lawyer, but the sentence was confirmed without the knowledge of his lawyer. During this time, the regime made every effort to hand my father a death sentence by referring to a false case. The only reason for my father’s death sentence is because he visited me in Camp Ashraf two years ago. This means that the regime cannot tolerate the basic rights of a person to visit family. For this reason, he was arrested, accused of being Moharebeh, and they gave issued him a death sentence. It is ridiculous that the regime doesn’t tolerate family members visiting us in Camp Ashraf. Additionally, it has been more than 100 days that with the help of the Iraqi government, the regime has brought family members of Ashraf residents [from Iran] to the camp to mentally and physically torture them.
VOA: That’s a different topic. What is your wish from the world in relation to your father’s sentencing? Meaning, what is it you would like from the United Nations? Do you think the world is paying attention to this and it is just the regime that doesn’t care?
BK: In an attempt to save my father’s life, I have written letters to the UN and other organizations. Maybe the world will become aware and open up their eyes to the crimes that are happening in Iran against innocent people, one of them being my father. Maybe the world will open their eyes and see that there are so many people that receive death sentences. As you know, five other people, who were so dear to all of us, were recently executed.
The main reason for these crimes [of imprisonment and execution] is to instill fear and intimidate the population leading up to the anniversary of the people’s uprising, which is coming up at the end of Khordad (June 12, 2010). The regime is extremely afraid of these demonstrations, so they commit crimes against political prisoners.
VOA: So your father has been accused of acting against the security of the nation? This is what the Islamic Republic of Iran government is saying. Isn’t this charge, without a doubt, unfair? So, they see your father visiting you as a threat to national security?
BK: Exactly. As I mentioned before, by issuing an execution sentence, the regime is proving that a basic human right of visiting family is considered an action against national security. How is a family visit a threat to national security, but at the same time, the regime brings family members to Camp Ashraf and tried to get them to talk against us. This is the contradiction of the regime.
VOA: Thank you Mr. Behrouz Kazemi- a resident of Camp Ashraf in Iraq, which is residence of the followers of the Mojahedin Khalgh of Iran. With many thanks to you.
BK: Thank you for giving me this time. Much gratitude and with thanks to you.
lalehsr 