Sister of Ali Younesi Threatened with Sexual Harassment and Arrest; Amnesty International Calls for Release of Imprisoned Student in Iran
As approximately one month has passed since the arrest of Ali Younesi, a student activist and graduate of Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology, his sister has reported being threatened with death, sexual harassment and abuse, and arrest, following her response to claims made by Iran’s Judiciary.
Aida Younesi, sister of detained student Ali Younesi in Iran, said in an interview with the Persian service of Voice of America on Tuesday, May 13, that most of these threats came “after I posted a short video in response to the spokesperson of the Judiciary” in private messages and Twitter comments. She stated that “these threats included threats of arrest, sexual harassment and abuse [and] even some vigilantes threatened to kill and execute [me].”
She added that even earlier, after posting a video in response to the Basij student coordinator at Sharif University on her Twitter account, some individuals had contacted her parents and told them: “Tell your daughter to delete this video.”
Ali Younesi’s sister stated that she has been pursuing these threats through the British police.
Regarding the latest condition of her brother, she said that he last contacted home on Wednesday of last week in a brief call with a “weak” voice, saying he was fine.
She added that this call took place one day after the Judiciary spokesperson’s statements and his “baseless accusations” against her brother.
According to Ali Younesi’s sister, this student, one month after his arrest, still does not have access to a lawyer and his case is being handled at the sixth investigative branch of Evin prison.
Mrs. Younesi, referring to the claim made by this judicial official about “Ali Younesi’s connections with all opposition groups including the Mujahedin-e Khalq,” said that the Judiciary spokesperson had referenced their family history to make this claim credible.
She said: “After I rejected all the charges and case fabrications in a short video and said that our parents’ history cannot be used to prove [this] claim, we have still not received further explanation from the authorities.”
Referring to another claim made by this judicial official about “discovery of explosive materials” from their homes, she said: “As my older brother and I explained last week … this claim is completely false and the investigator has not told my father anything of the sort [at all].”
Ali Younesi, a computer engineering student, and Amir Hossein Moradi, a physics student, were arrested on Friday, April 11, by plainclothes forces without a warrant, and were beaten and transferred to an undisclosed location.
Amnesty International also, on Tuesday, May 13, issued a statement regarding “the arbitrary arrest of Ali Younesi,” noting that he is at risk of “torture and other ill-treatment” in prison, and called for the release of this imprisoned student.
The arrest of students by security forces in Iran comes as human rights activists and the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran have called for the release of political and religious prisoners from Iranian prisons following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, also said on Wednesday, March 25, in a press conference: “We have asked not only Syria, but the Islamic Republic of Iran as well, to release not only American citizens but all those who have been unjustly imprisoned in these circumstances. This is a humanitarian measure, and beyond the fact that these people have been illegally imprisoned, humanitarian principles require it in these circumstances.”
International human rights organizations and the United States government have accused the Islamic Republic of violating freedom of speech and suppressing civil activists.
Source: Voice of America
