Teacher Activist Ismail Abdi Transferred from Evin Prison to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj
Ismail Abdi, a teachers’ union activist, was transferred from Evin Prison to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj on Tuesday, March 17, 2021. Mr. Abdi, who had been transferred to Rajai Shahr on Saturday, March 14 without prior coordination, was transferred to Karaj police station on the pretext that no transfer order had been issued by Amin Vaziri, the special prosecutor overseeing political prisoners. He was taken on Sunday in handcuffs and leg irons in vehicles used for transporting inmates accused of violent crimes to the Karaj prosecutor’s office and was ultimately temporarily returned to Evin Prison.
According to Hrana, the news agency of the human rights activists collective in Iran, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17, 2021, Ismail Abdi, a teachers’ union activist, was transferred from Evin Prison to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj.
Mr. Abdi, who is being held in quarantine at Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, remains deprived of the right to make phone calls. This transfer was carried out on the orders of Amin Vaziri, the prosecutor overseeing political prisoners, and by security forces.
Mr. Abdi, who had been transferred from Evin Prison to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj on Saturday, March 14 without prior coordination, was transferred to Karaj police station on Saturday night on the pretext that no transfer order had been issued by Amin Vaziri, the special prosecutor for political prisoners. Ismail Abdi was taken on Sunday morning in handcuffs and leg irons in vehicles transporting inmates accused of violent crimes to the Karaj prosecutor’s office and was ultimately returned at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday temporarily until his transfer to Evin Prison.
Previously, an informed source told Hrana: “On Sunday, the Karaj prosecutor’s office refused to transfer him to Rajai Shahr Prison. As a result, he was returned to Tehran. But since his name had been removed from the list of Evin Prison inmates, Evin Prison initially refused to accept him. Finally, after several hours of being transferred between Tehran police stations, he was returned to Evin Prison again and held in quarantine room 4, deprived of the right to make phone calls, until his status was determined again and an order was issued to transfer him to Rajai Shahr Prison.”
This source told Hrana about Mr. Abdi’s transfer: “After Ismail Abdi was transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, he was held in quarantine for several hours and even tested for coronavirus. But after prison officials contacted Amin Vaziri, the special prosecutor for political prisoners, to obtain the transfer order, he said he didn’t have time and ordered Mr. Abdi transferred to a police station near the prison. At the police station this morning, when the shift changed, Mr. Abdi’s belongings were scattered, which led to a verbal altercation and ultimately the use of handcuffs and leg irons during his transfer.”
This teachers’ union activist previously went on hunger strike on March 7 in protest against the imposition of new restrictions and deprivation of the right to make phone calls coinciding with his transfer to ward 6 of this prison, and ended his strike on March 10 after his demands were met.
According to an informed source, Mr. Abdi’s transfer from ward 8 to ward 6 of Evin Prison was contrary to the principle of crime segregation and on the pretext of issues including reciting poetry and speaking at a memorial ceremony for Behnam Mahjoubi, a Gonabadi Dervish inmate who died recently.
Ismail Abdi was arrested on June 27, 2015, when he went to Evin prosecutor’s office to follow up on his travel ban status, after hours of interrogation. After 6 months of detention, in March 2016, he was sentenced by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Salwati, to six years imprisonment, five years of which were enforceable, on charges of propaganda against the state, assembly and conspiracy against national security.
Mr. Abdi was released on furlough from Evin Prison on March 19, 2020, following the outbreak of coronavirus in the country, and on Monday, April 20, 2020, while seeking to obtain a furlough extension circular from the judiciary, he was arrested at the Evin Prison prosecutor’s office and returned to prison.
This imprisoned teacher was sentenced in June 2011 under article 500 (propaganda against the state) and article 505 (contact with hostile states) to ten years suspended imprisonment for five years. In April 2021, Hossein Taj, Mr. Abdi’s defense lawyer, announced the re-notification of the 10-year suspended imprisonment sentence for his client. In September 2021, this citizen’s request for retrial was rejected by Branch 14 of the Supreme Court.
Source: Hrana
