Complaint by Three Political Prisoners Against Mistreatment and Rights Violations in Prison
Three political prisoners have filed a complaint regarding multiple instances of legal violations in the handling of their cases and infringements on their civil rights. They state that their refusal to sign a pledge not to file complaints against the leader is the reason for their mistreatment.
Two detained lawyers and an Iranian civil activist have sent a letter to the Central Supervision Board for proper enforcement of laws, respect for legitimate freedoms and civil rights, protesting “legal violations” by the judiciary regarding the proceedings of their cases.
According to the Hrana human rights website, Mostafa Nili and Arash Keykhosravi, two detained lawyers, along with Mahdi Mahmoudian, a journalist and civil activist, have outlined multiple instances of legal violations related to civil rights in their cases in a nine-point letter.
These three prisoners cited their efforts to organize proceedings for legal action against those responsible for mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis and against Ali Khamenei, the president, and the health minister as reasons for their detention. They added that they spent more than 33 days in security cells of the judiciary’s information protection department under psychological and mental pressure without being informed of the charges against them.
These three activists further stated that since August 14, the day they were detained, they have faced mistreatment and psychological pressure because they refused to sign a pledge not to file complaints against the leader of the Islamic Republic and other officials.
In this letter, they emphasized their right to legal redress according to Article 15 of the law on respect for legitimate freedoms and protection of civil rights, and listed grievances including “deprivation of personal freedom and prevention of access to legal remedy and judicial authority, conduct unbecoming and contrary to law, ethics and Islamic standards by judicial officers, issuance of illegal arrest warrants, and disregard for privacy rights and searches of their residences.”
Effort to Prepare Complaint Against Coronavirus Mismanagement Officials
Mahdi Mahmoudian, Mostafa Nili, Arash Keykhosravi, Mohammad Reza Faghihi, Maryam Faraafrāz, and Leila Haidari, lawyers and civil activists, were detained by security forces on August 14 at the office of the Citizens’ Rights Support Association in Tehran.
Zabihollah Khadiyan, spokesman for the judiciary, announced two weeks later that the charges against the detainees were “disrupting public order” and some crimes against national security.
These individuals intended to file complaints against high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic in connection with the mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic and economic corruption in the allocation of billions of rials to non-specialized companies for vaccine procurement, and to hold them accountable for the preventable deaths of Iranian citizens from coronavirus.
Among these individuals, Leila Haidari, Mohammad Reza Faghihi, and Maryam Faraafrāz were gradually released from prison, but the other three aforementioned activists continue to serve their time in the general ward of Evin Prison despite the issuance of indictments and designation of court divisions.
The trial for the charges against Mahmoudian, Keykhosravi, and Nili will be held on Wednesday, October 12, in Branch 29 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
Social media users have repeatedly expressed outrage using the hashtags “health seekers imprisoned” and hashtags combining the names of these three individuals against what they called “judicial despotism” in Iran, demanding the immediate release of these activists.
Source: DW
