Khaled Pirzadeh appears in court with his eyelids sewn shut.

Political prisoner Khaled Pirzadeh appeared at the court hearing with his eyelids sewn shut.

On Monday, Khaled Pirzadeh, a constitutionalist political activist, appeared at his interrogation session at the third branch of the Evin Prosecutor's Office with his eyelids tied shut in protest of the pressure that the Islamic Republic authorities are putting on his family.

According to a source close to Khalid, he had his eyelids sewn shut at midnight on December 26 because all of his family's bank accounts, which included money to renew the lease on the house they are renting, were frozen. The freezing of the Pirzadeh family's bank accounts has prevented his family from paying the previous rent.

The aforementioned informed person emphasized that the charge of "spreading lies" among the various charges attributed to Khalid has been removed from his case, adding: "Regarding the charge of "acquiring illegitimate wealth," they have forced a confession from him, and this issue is related to the closing of accounts that friends helped him with for treatment, and in this account, which belongs to his wife, there is also the amount of the mortgage for the house."

According to the Iranian Human Rights Activists Association, Khaled Pirzadeh defended himself during the interrogation session against charges including "propaganda activity against the regime" and "social and collusion."

Khaled Pirzadeh is a former Iranian bodybuilding champion who was arrested by government forces in June 2019 and sentenced to seven years in prison by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, headed by Mohammad Moghiseh, on charges of “gathering and collusion” and “insulting the leadership.” At the time of his arrest, he only had pain in his left knee and some weakness in walking.

Political prisoner Khaled Pirzadeh was released from prison in February 2022 due to his inability to walk and his serious physical condition, which was also damaged due to fractured vertebrae in his back and spinal cord, as well as severe anxiety disorder. After receiving continuous medical services, he regained much of his health.

In September of this year, he intended to travel to Turkey to continue his treatment, but was again arrested by security forces at Ahvaz Airport and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran. In November, he was transferred to the hospital due to a heart attack and seizure.

Mr. Pirzadeh and other political activists inside and outside prison have spoken out about the situation in Iran in a joint message in recent months. They considered the current chaotic situation in Iran to be the result of the ideas, methods, and goals that were created by the 1979 revolution and the perversion of constitutionalism, in the battle between constitutionalists and constitutionalists.