Imprisoned Journalist Awaits Surgery After Nine Months

Mehdi Mahmoudian, an imprisoned journalist and member of the Participation Front political party, was transferred from Rajaee Shahr Prison to a hospital in May 2011 and will undergo surgery Thursday morning. In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a source close to the prisoner who asked for anonymity for security reasons said, “Mehdi suffers from serious blood pressure fluctuations and keeps having seizures. Only since yesterday have the doctors been able to stabilize his blood pressure. He will undergo surgery on Thursday. Finally, a whole year after his illness and his requests for treatment, the Tehran Prosecutor gave him permission to leave prison.”

Soltani To File Suit Against Javad Larijani for False Terrorist Accusation

One day after Mohammad Javad Larijani claimed that distinguished human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, who is currently inside Evin Prison, was connected to terrorist groups, his wife, Massoumeh Dehghan, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Soltani has never faced such an accusation and that he and his lawyers will be filing a lawsuit against Larijani for the false accusations he leveled against her husband.

Arrests of Kurdish Activists Continues: Three More Arrests

In the continuing wave of recent arrests of Kurdish political and civil activists, a local human rights activist told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that security forces stormed the homes of five Kurdish activists and arrested three of them. They were unable to arrest the other two because they were not home [...]

Iranian Official at the UN Hurls Baseless Accusations at Top Lawyer and Opposition Leaders

(16 November 2011) Iranian authorities should stop misrepresenting their human rights record in order to deflect international criticism and justify widely reported illegal detentions, said the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran today.

Mohammad Javad Larijani, a top Iranian official and head of the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran, told the United Nations press corps today that opposition leaders Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have been charged with incitement to violence, amongst other crimes. Larijani also said that Abdolfattah Soltani, a leading human rights lawyer, is detained because of connections to terrorist groups, although he presented no evidence to support his claim.

“His Continued Detention Is Neither Moral Nor Legal,” Says Soltani’s Wife

Massoumeh Dehghan, wife of human rights lawyer and founding member of Defenders of Human Rights Center Abdolfattah Soltani, who has been inside Evin Prison’s Ward 209 for the past two months, spoke with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran about her husband’s condition. “Last Thursday I was able to see Mr. Soltani for about ten minutes. He had lost some weight and was complaining about remaining in prison in a state of limbo. It is really unfair to keep someone in prison for a long time and tell him that ‘it takes a long time to read his case file.’ If they have a reason for his detention, they must present it to the court as soon as possible. Continuing this situation is neither moral nor legal,” said Dehghan.

Continued Detention of Photojournalist Inside Evin’s Ward 209

Despite the completion of his interrogation, reporter and photojournalist Reza Entessari remains detained inside Evin Prison’s Ward 209. “The Investigative Judge has converted his temporary detention orders to bail orders. But despite completion of his interrogations, as he is unable to post the $50,000 bail, he remains in temporary detention inside Evin Prison’s Security Ward 209,” a source close to the case told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

The Deterioration of Prison Conditions in Iran: 13 Thousand Inmates Packed in a Prison with Three Thousand Capacity

Last week, the Prosecutor General of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad, Mahmoud Zoghi, told journalists that the Central Prison in the northeastern city of Mashhad, whose nominal capacity is 3,000 inmates, is currently holding more than thirteen thousand inmates. This points to the severe congestion of inmates in Iranian prisons, a problem that has been [...]

“The People Who Flogged Payman Are Upset Because He Spoke Out”

In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Samira Jamshidi, wife of student activist Payman Aref, spoke about her husband’s case following his 1 November detention. Aref had been flogged and released on 9 October after serving 11 months in Evin Prison. “One day after he was arrested along with Asal Esmailizadeh and Sharar Konoor Tabrizi, they were released and ordered to appear at Branch 6 of Evin Prison the next day at 8:00 a.m. The next day they were interrogated again and Asal and Sharar were released. But they said Payman must remain in detention. Paymans lawyers had seen a letter in his case file, setting his bail at $20,000. That night I quickly prepared the bail money. This morning at 8:00 a.m. I went to the Prosecutor’s office with the lawyer,” said Jamshidi.

Kurdish Cultural Figures Receive Prison Sentences for ‘Acting Against National Security’

A source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that eight literary and cultural figures from Gilan-e Gharb in Kermanshah Province, who were arrested by security forces last August, were sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison by the Gilan-e Gharb Revolutionary Court, with Judge Babakhani presiding. The group had been released on bail after spending one to two months in temporary detention.

Katayoun Shahabi and Mehran Zinatbakhsh Released

According to a report by Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) website, Katayoun Shahabi, an Iranian documentary film distributor and Mehran Zinatbaskh, a documentary filmmaker, who were arrested along with several other documentary filmmakers on 17 September on the charge of cooperating with BBC Television, were released on bail on Wednesday, 9 November. Ataollah Hayati, husband of Katayoun Shahabi, confirmed the news in an interview with ISNA.