Ismail Bakhshi: Don't lie to people.

Esmael Bakhshi, a representative of the workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company, wrote on Instagram in his first reaction to the claims and accusations of the Ministry of Intelligence and other officials of the Islamic Republic against him yesterday, Wednesday, January 9: "I announce to all my dear ones that up to this moment, I have not had any conversations with any investigative group, whether from the government, the parliament, or the judiciary, regarding my torture case during my detention at the Ministry of Intelligence, and they have not heard my words."

Mr. Bakhshi then implicitly denied all these claims and accusations in his next sentence, writing: "I have nothing to say. I'm just saying don't lie to people."

Last Friday, Esmaeil Bakhshi protested the monitoring of his cell phone and conversations with his wife by the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic, writing, among other things, that he had been tortured so much by the Ministry’s agents that he could not move for 72 hours. He also described the torture by the intelligence agents and the “vile sexual indecencies” he endured against himself and Sepideh Gholian, a civil society activist who was also arrested in connection with the Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers’ protests, and invited Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi to a public debate.

The recent statements by the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company workers' representative and his advice to avoid "lies" also came after the denial of his torture by the Ministry of Intelligence, Hassan Rouhani's Chief of Staff, and the National Security Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

Previously, there had been numerous reports of security forces pressuring Esmaeil Bakhshi and his family to “deny torture.” Esmaeil Bakhshi’s lawyer, Farzaneh Zeilabi, confirmed the pressure without citing the source of the pressure, saying that it was “true” that her client had been tortured.

Sepideh Qolyan's account of the "severe torture" of Esmaeil Bakhshi

After the Ministry of Intelligence, the Rouhani government, and the National Security Commission of the Parliament denied the torture of Esmaeil Bakhshi, Sepideh Gholian, who was arrested along with this labor activist and spent nearly a month in prison, confirmed and explained the torture of herself and Mr. Bakhshi in several Twitter messages yesterday, Wednesday.

Ms. Qolyan wrote, among other things: "The memory of thirty days of brutal and inhumane treatment can still make my eyes water and my body tremble. During the arrest, Ismail Bakhshi tried to pull me out from under the beating of the officers, but he himself was beaten so badly that he fainted."

The civil activist also wrote that last Monday he was summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence's press headquarters for the "several times" and was told that Esmail Bakhshi's statements about torture were "illusions."

According to Sepideh Qolyan: "Esmael's torture, from the time he was detained at the Intelligence Protection Command, to the security police (who shouted, 'I'm a worker, you broke my ribs'), and the time we were transferred from Shush to the Ahvaz Intelligence Detention Center, was so severe that during the first ten days of my detention, I thought my brother was dead."

He continued: "I couldn't eat for ten days, I didn't know if it was night or day. I was screaming, until they disobeyed me because of my restlessness and screams and took me near his interrogation room, and I heard his wounded voice. My brother Ismail was alive."

Ms. Qolyan wrote that the first days of her and Ismail Bakhshi's detention were accompanied by "beatings" and "the shadow of Kabul" hovering over her to extract a "confession." The civil society activist added: "I wish, I wish, that the torture could have been reduced to just beatings. Making sexual accusations, where even if I screamed, my voice would not have reached anywhere, was the most painful part of the story."

Sepideh Qolyan also wrote, referring to the threat she received in prison: "On the last day, the interrogator said that if you go out and open your mouth, we will broadcast the same claims and forced confessions of you and Esmail Bakhshi on News 2030. And we will crush you to powder."

This civil activist then referred to the continuation of his “torture” after his detention in the form of being confronted with “immoral attitudes” from a person who introduced himself as a representative of the Ministry of Intelligence in Shusha, and testified once again about the torture of Esmaeil Bakhshi: “During the arrest phase, I witnessed the brutal beating of Esmaeil Bakhshi and during the days of interrogation, I witnessed his humiliation. In a way that they forced him to insult himself in front of others several times. I am willing to testify about this torture in a fair trial, both for myself and for my brother Esmaeil Bakhshi.”

Putting the plaintiff in the defendant's shoes

Esmaeil Bakhshi’s statements about his “torture” provoked widespread reactions. The Iranian judiciary promised to investigate, and the country’s attorney general, on the orders of the head of the judiciary, sent an “independent commission” to Khuzestan to investigate the matter. Hassan Rouhani’s advisor also announced an “explicit order” from the Iranian president to investigate the matter. Many members of the Iranian parliament also demanded an explanation from the Ministry of Intelligence. The matter was referred to the parliament’s National Security Committee, which met last Tuesday with the minister and other intelligence officials in attendance, but in the absence of Esmaeil Bakhshi.

After this meeting, however, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the head of the National Security Commission, citing statements from Ministry of Intelligence officials, declared the case closed in the parliament, saying that Ismail Bakhshi was “engaged” with security officers during his arrest and that there was no torture. Falahatpisheh denied “torture” and also, referring to the “film” shown by the Ministry of Intelligence during the commission’s meeting, claimed that Mr. Bakhshi had “confessed” to collaborating with the Communist Workers’ Party, which is based in Europe.

The Workers' Communist Party of Iran, however, denied Mr. Bakhshi's cooperation with it in an interview with Deutsche Welle's Persian service yesterday and considered the accusation to be aimed at "building a case" against this labor activist.

Possibility of "Nizam" filing a complaint against Esmaeil Bakhshi

Also, yesterday, despite Rouhani's "explicit order" to address the issue, Mahmoud Vaezi, his chief of staff, denied Bakhshi's "claims" and announced the possibility of the "Ministry of Intelligence and System" filing a complaint against the labor activist.

At the same time as these statements, however, Laia Junaidi, Rouhani's legal assistant, said: "The investigation panel formed by the president will do its job and will announce its report." Vaezi's words, however, indicate that Rouhani's government has made its decision and announced the "result" before the "panel" has finished its work.

Laya Junaidi also said: "He [Ismail Bakhshi] has also been invited to the Islamic Consultative Assembly to present his views."

This is despite the fact that despite MP Alireza Rahimi’s emphasis on “efforts” to have Mr. Bakhshi attend the National Security Commission meeting two days ago “despite some opinions,” the complainant himself was unable to attend that meeting. Ms. Junaidi had said at the same time as Rouhani’s chief of staff: “If Bakhshi’s claims are true, the events that have occurred are unconstitutional and must be dealt with severely.”

No report has yet been published, neither by the “independent commission” of the judiciary nor by the “commission” formed by Rouhani. The National Security Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Ministry of Intelligence, and Rouhani’s government have passed judgment and even threatened Esmail Bakhshi. The position of plaintiff and defendant has changed; on one side is a labor union activist and on the other is a huge government and administrative apparatus.

Despite this, Hesameddin Ashena, an advisor to the Iranian president, wrote on Twitter last night: “Hopefully one day 1: Both the plaintiffs of torture and spreading lies will file complaints in the courts of justice and both cases will be heard publicly. 2: The officer will not allow himself to stray from the boundaries of duty and the accused will not be able to make irrefutable and unprovable claims. 3: Surveillance cameras will make counter-claims verifiable.”

The issue of “torture” of Esmaeil Bakhshi has once again shaken Iranian public opinion and brought the issue to the forefront of the news. Ali Motahari, the deputy speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, who had previously called for an investigation into the torture of Mr. Bakhshi and a “convincing answer” from the Minister of Intelligence regarding this accusation, calling it “an embarrassment to the government of prudence and hope” if the news is true, met with the labor activist and his lawyer last Tuesday. The Hope faction of the Iranian Parliament, which had also met with Bakhshi and his lawyer on Tuesday, announced yesterday, after holding a meeting with the Minister and officials of the Ministry of Intelligence, that it would dispatch a delegation to Shush to investigate the issue.

Esmael Bakhshi was arrested on November 17, coinciding with the fourteenth day of the strike of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company workers, and remained in prison until December 11.

Before Mr. Bakhshi's release, there had been news about his "torture" in prison, but at the same time, the Chief Justice of Shusha denied it and attributed it to "hostile media."