Political Prisoner Saeed Masouri Returned to General Ward After Collective Resistance by Inmates

Political prisoner Saeed Masouri has been returned to the general ward of prison after being transferred to an unknown location, following collective resistance by inmates.

At noon on Wednesday, the 25th of Tir, agents from the Ministry of Intelligence suddenly removed Saeed Masouri, a political prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment, from his cell without providing any clear explanation and transferred him to an unknown location.

Dr. Saeed Masouri, born in 1965, who was residing in Norway for his studies, was arrested on December 10, 2000, upon his return to Iran by Ministry of Intelligence agents in Dezful on charges of “membership in the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran.” His family was informed of his arrest in April 2001. After his arrest, he spent 14 months in one of the solitary confinement cells of the Ahvaz Intelligence Ministry office, after which he was transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison and subsequently to Qarchak Prison in Karaj.

In 2002, he was sentenced to death by the Tehran Revolutionary Court on charges of “moharebeh” (enmity against God), but his sentence was ultimately reduced to life imprisonment. Since his arrest, Saeed Masouri has not been granted any furlough, whether in the Ahvaz Intelligence Ministry detention facility, Evin Prison, or Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj. Throughout these years, he has repeatedly gone on hunger strikes in response to illegal actions by prison officials and security forces, resulting in physical harm to him, and he has been denied medical services in prison.

At noon today, when Ministry of Intelligence agents at Qarchak Prison in Karaj attempted to transfer him to another prison, they faced collective resistance from inmates in Ward Four. Nevertheless, they transferred him to an unknown location. The actions of the Ministry of Intelligence agents were met with protest and resistance from inmates in that ward, resulting in a severe confrontation between the agents and prisoners. Eventually, security forces returned Saeed Masouri to the general ward of the prison.

Following his return to the general ward, prison guards and security personnel stationed themselves behind the ward door, and the atmosphere in the ward remains tense. According to published reports, it is believed that Ministry of Intelligence agents intended to transfer him due to a letter he wrote from Qarchak Prison regarding the process of issuing and executing death sentences in Iran, particularly concerning political prisoners, in which he had expressed criticism.