Political Prisoner ‘Khaled Pirzadeh’ Appears in Court with Sewn Eyelids

Khaled Pirzadeh, a political prisoner, appeared at a court interrogation session with his eyelids sewn shut.

Khaled Pirzadeh, a constitutional activist and political figure, appeared on Monday at his interrogation session held in the Third Interrogation Branch of Evin Prosecutor’s Office with sewn eyelids in protest against the pressures that Islamic Republic authorities are imposing on his family.

According to an informed source close to Khaled on that day, he sewed his eyelids shut on the night of December 27 because all of his family’s bank accounts, which contained funds for renewing the rent of the house they rent, had been closed. The blocking of Pirzadeh family’s bank accounts has prevented his family from paying the rent at the previous rate.

The informed source further stated, while emphasizing that among various charges brought against Khaled, they have removed the charge of “spreading lies” from his case: “Regarding the charge of ‘obtaining illegitimate money,’ they have extracted a forced confession from him, and this matter is related to the closure of accounts through which friends helped him with treatment, and in this account which belongs to his wife, there is also the amount of the house mortgage.”

According to the Iranian Human Rights Activists organization, Khaled Pirzadeh defended himself at the interrogation session against charges including “propaganda activity against the system” and “gathering and conspiracy.”

Khaled Pirzadeh is a former Iranian bodybuilding champion who was arrested by government forces in June 2019 and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, headed by Mohammad Moghisseh, on charges of “gathering and conspiracy” and “insulting the Supreme Leader.” At the time of his arrest, he only suffered from pain in his left knee and slight weakness in walking.

Political prisoner Khaled Pirzadeh was released from prison in February 2023 due to his inability to walk and his severe physical condition, as his spinal cord had been damaged due to fractured lumbar vertebrae, as well as due to severe anxiety disorder, and after continuous medical treatment, he regained much of his health.

He intended to travel to Turkey in September of this year to continue his treatment process when he was again arrested by security forces at Ahvaz Airport and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran, and in November he was transferred to the hospital due to heart palpitations and convulsions.

Mr. Pirzadeh and other political activists inside and outside prison shared a joint statement in recent months about Iran’s situation. They attributed Iran’s current dire situation to the thoughts, methods, and goals that were created during the Constitutional Revolution of 1979 and the derailment of constitutionalism in the struggle between constitutionalists and monarchists in Iran.