Tomaj Salehi Deprived of Visitation and Telephone Contact

Tomaj Salehi has been deprived of visits and telephone contact with his family and lawyer.

A year has passed since the arrest of Tomaj Salehi, the freedom-loving artist, and he remains in temporary detention, which according to his lawyer’s claim, is illegal.

Amir Raisian, Tomaj Salehi’s lawyer, announced that his client has been deprived of the right to make telephone calls and visits with his family. In an interview with a domestic media outlet, he said: “The matter of Tomaj’s broken leg led us to file a complaint with the State Employees’ Prosecutor’s Office, and on the other hand, the publication of some incorrect information by certain media outlets regarding Tomaj’s detention caused us to register complaints with the Culture and Media Prosecutor’s Office.

However, unfortunately in recent days restrictions have been imposed on calls, visits, and other prisoner rights such as access to the gymnasium for him. Of course, we hope that these restrictions are the result of a mistake and have nothing to do with filing these complaints, and that the situation returns to normal in the coming days.”

Mr. Raisian, while referring to the rights of an accused person in prison, added: “It is not clear to me how an accused person does not have the right to contact, for example, his lawyer or family members? Furthermore, a year has passed since Tomaj’s arrest, and according to legal standards, the continuation of temporary detention with his current charges beyond one year is illegal, and such a procedure would both violate Tomaj Salehi’s legal rights and create the appearance of discrimination in the implementation of the amnesty directive.”