“Massoumeh Yaavari” Forced to Confess Under Torture

“Massoumeh Yaavari,” accused of moharebeh (waging war against God), was forced to confess under torture to save her son.

Massoumeh Yaavari, 45 years old and a former political prisoner, is a housewife who has been accused of moharebeh for allegedly setting fire to a Basij base on Taleghani Street in Golpayegan and for her connection with Shabnam Madadpour, a member of the Mujahedin-e Khalq. Yaavari has been charged with waging war against God.

The charges against Massoumeh Yaavari come despite the fact that she suffers from a severe physical condition, and it is difficult and painful for her to sit down and stand up. Her physical condition does not allow her to go to the street and set fire to the Basij base. Additionally, her acquaintance with Shabnam Madadpour dates back to 2009 when they were cellmates in the same prison.

Ms. Yaavari was arrested at her home by security agents on Tuesday, September 5, 2023. Two weeks after her arrest, her son, Mohammad Mehdi, a second-year nursing student at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, was also arrested for following up on his mother’s condition.

Massoumeh Yaavari’s physical condition is poor due to two herniated discs in her lower back over the past few years. Before her arrest on the aforementioned date, she suffered from severe back pain that prevented her from even sitting. In addition, she suffers from thyroid disease and cardiac arrhythmia.

According to “Iran Wire,” an informed source regarding Ms. Yaavari’s condition in prison stated that she was tortured in prison and, threatened that her son would be sentenced to 15 years in prison, was forced to make a coerced confession. She not only confessed to setting fire to the Basij base, but also confessed to many other acts that she had no knowledge of and was not even physically capable of doing.

According to the aforementioned source, Ms. Yaavari’s arrest was related to the burning of the Basij base for which they were searching for a perpetrator. Their evidence against Ms. Yaavari was the testimony of an informant neighbor who had equipped the entire alley with surveillance cameras, claiming that her house was located there, and had provided the camera footage as evidence to the intelligence organization, stating that her movements were suspicious.

The Islamic Republic’s intelligence organization stated that the time of the fire at the aforementioned base was early September 2023, while the base was set on fire two other times after Ms. Yaavari’s arrest. Accusing Ms. Yaavari of setting fire to the Basij base is particularly questionable because even if she had intended to do so, given her physical condition, she would not have been capable of doing so, as she has multiple difficulties in sitting down and standing up, let alone going to the street and hastily setting fire to the Basij base.

The issue becomes even more complicated when the Islamic Republic’s security and judicial apparatus not only accused her of this act despite having difficulty sitting on a chair, but also subjected her to pressure, torture, and harassment and threatened her with her son. Massoumeh Yaavari, forced to save her son’s life from imprisonment, was compelled to make a coerced confession under torture.