An Iranian civil rights activist is at risk of deportation to Iran after fleeing to Georgia and attempting to cross the border illegally.
Mohammad Hosseinzadeh, a civil activist, was temporarily released from Evin Prison in February of last year after posting a bail of 200 million Tomans, pending the completion of the trial. After his release, he fled to Georgia and is now at risk of deportation to Iran.
The Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners reported on Wednesday, May 24 that Mohammad Hosseinzadeh had legally arrived in Georgia in late March 2018 after being released due to ongoing harassment and pressure from security agencies on him and his family, and after learning of the 8-and-a-half-year prison sentence for his co-defendant Arsham Rezaei. On Monday, May 24, while he was planning to leave the country for a European country (Germany), he was arrested by Georgian police at Tbilisi airport for illegal exit.
Negar Hosseinzadeh, the civil activist's sister, told the campaign: "The translator from Georgia contacted our family and confirmed the news of his arrest, announcing that he would be deported to Iran. Of course, considering my brother's conditions in Iran and the threats made against him, returning him to Iran would put his life in danger and lead to arrest and imprisonment."
Mohammad Hosseinzadeh, a civil rights activist and child labor activist, was arrested on January 7 on Tehran's Enghelab Street by security forces on charges of "propaganda against the system, gathering and colluding against the country's security, and insulting the leadership" and transferred to Evin Prison. The civil activist was released on February 18, 2018, after posting bail pending the completion of the trial.
According to a report by Amnesty International, in 2018, more than seven thousand people, including participants in demonstrations, students, journalists, women's rights activists, environmental activists, labor activists, and ethnic and religious minority rights activists, were arrested in Iran, and hundreds were sentenced to prison.
Source: Voice of America
