Revelatory Letter from Kurdish Political Prisoner After 25 Years in Prison

A political prisoner in Urmia prison states that security agencies have pressured members of his family due to their pursuit of his case. Mohammad Nazari, who has been imprisoned for 25 years, says that his release condition has been announced as giving an interview.

Mohammad Nazari was arrested in Mordad 1373 on charges of cooperating with the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran in the city of Boukan and was initially sentenced to execution in court, later reduced by one degree to life imprisonment.

This political prisoner published an open letter whose text was published on the third of Mehr on the Kurdistan Human Rights Network website, stating that in the past 25 years he has not had even a single day of furlough.

He states that since his previous letters to the Ministry of Intelligence and other responsible bodies remained unanswered, he intended to publish his recent letter openly “so that everyone knows what happened to my family during this time besides myself.”

Nazari wrote in part of his letter: “My family has seriously pursued my case throughout all these years. My mother in the year 90, when she approached all bodies, organizations, and even the Leader’s office to pursue a pardon and reduction of my sentence, received only one response, which was: never pursue your son’s case and go pray that he was not executed! My mother ultimately suffered a stroke and died under the pressure and harassment inflicted by some institutions.”

Pardon in Mahabad, Opposition in Rajai Shahr Prison

According to this political prisoner, the prosecutor general of the country issued an order in the year 91 to re-examine his case, and although the Mahabad court agreed to his pardon and release, the pardon and amnesty commission of Tehran, with the intervention of the Ministry of Intelligence representative in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, opposed this action.

He states: “My brother, who pursued my release in the year 95, was threatened by some security institutions and ultimately his body was found on one of the roads, apparently having suffered a stroke.”

Mohammad Nazari went on a hunger strike about seven years ago and demanded a re-examination of his case and his release from prison. At that time, in an interview with one of his cellmates whose text leaked out, he had stated that his confessions were obtained under torture and the trial that sentenced him to execution lasted no more than 20 minutes.

Nazari wrote in his open letter: “I have repeatedly requested a lawyer. Some lawyers, despite accepting my representation in the initial stages, withdrew for unknown reasons. Although in the year 96, Mr. Mohammad Hossein Aghassi accepted my representation without any expectations and had great hope for my release, despite all the efforts they made, they could not move forward.”

90-Day Hunger Strike

On the 18th of Tirmah, he informed the head of the judiciary in a letter about his 90-day hunger strike and wrote that as a result of this strike he became ill, but prison officials refused to provide him with medical care.

Mohammad Hossein Aghassi, a practicing lawyer, expressed concern about Nazari’s health condition in a Twitter message.

In the final section of Mohammad Nazari’s letter, it states: “In the year 96, the intelligence representative announced that my release was conditional on giving an interview, which I opposed. In response, they said they could not do anything for my release in that case. Although intelligence officers today acknowledge that my sentence is unjust, the question of why they continue to oppose my release is one that only the general director of intelligence of West Azerbaijan province can answer.”

One of the charges against this political prisoner was involvement in a plot to assassinate four intelligence officers, which Nazari states he neither knew nor had any knowledge of.

Mohammad Nazari’s letter from Urmia prison; Is it fair that after 25 years my family is subjected to such pressure?

Source: DW