Sunday, July 12, 2020

NEWS))))))

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI-MEK) announced this afternoon, July 12, that Coronavirus has taken the lives of more than 69,800 in 342 cities across Iran. The Iranian authorities still blame people for not staying at home, while Hassan Rouhani ordered people back to work and Khamenei called the deadly virus, nothing important.

******
Farangis Mazloum mother of a political prisoner Soheil Arabi who was personally detained for some time last year, was sentenced to six years in prison on the charge of having contacts with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and of disseminating propaganda against the state in favor of opposition groups. Former political prisoners Sedigheh Moradi and Zahra Akbari-nejad Dorcheh, who is the wife of political prisoner Abolghasem Foulandvand, were also sentenced to 95 days in prison, each. The three former political prisoners were tried by Branch 6 of the Public and Revolutionary Court of Evin and arraigned with their charges.
Zahra Akbari-nejad Dorcheh is the wife of political prisoner Abolghasem Fouladvand who is presently detained in Gohardasht Prison of Karaj, also known as Rajaiishahr Prison. She was arrested last year on July 23, 2019, by agents of the Intelligence Ministry, but was later released on bail until her sentence is issued by the court.
Farangis Mazloum was arrested at her sister’s home on July 22, 2019 and taken to Ward 209 of Evin Prison where she was tortured despite being very ill, to the extent that she went on hunger strike in protest.
Ms. Mazloum was eventually released on October 8, 2019 on a 250-million-toman bail until her legal proceedings were finalized.
Former political prisoner Sedigheh Moradi had been previously arrested in 2011 and charged with Moharebeh (waging war on God) and with having contact with opposition groups. Branch 28 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced her to 10 years in prison and exile to Gohardasht Prison. The Court of Appeals upheld her sentence.
Along with these women political prisoners, Dr. Hani Yazarlou, a veteran political activist, and his son, Hood Yazarlou, were sentenced to one year in prison and MohammadVali Gholamnejad, and Mehdi Khavas Sefat were also sentenced to 95 days on similar charges.

******
Female political Prisoner Atena Daemi who was due to be released on July 4, 2020, after serving her five year jail time, has been charged with two new cases and sentenced to another five years and 74 lashes.
In a previous case in July 2019, she had been sentenced to three years and seven months in prison, and recently, on July 4, she was sentenced to another 2 years and 74 lashes.
After hearing of her new sentence, this resilient political prisoner wrote, “I should have been released today after almost five years behind bars, but everyone knows that as long as the Islamic Republic exists, Iran is a prison everywhere.” "I am free today because being free does not necessarily mean that you should be on the other side of the bars. Every new sentence affirms that I am free. And I will stand to the end and until I am alive"/
Ensieh Daemi, Atena’s sister tweeted, “The interrogator told Atena, ‘You have become numb towards prison sentences. We will have new plans for you.’ And this is why they added flogging to your prison sentence.”
The full text of the letter Atena Daemi sent out of Evin Prison is as follows:
I was due to be released today after almost five years behind bars. But everyone knows that as long as the Islamic Republic exists, Iran is a prison everywhere. But I am free, so much that they keep thinking they have to imprison me with a new sentence. These sentences sound ridiculous to me, even the lashes!
I mourned for the people who were killed in the November 2019 uprising, then they accused me of dancing in the month of Muharram!
Yes, I mourned for the innocent people oppressed in our time and I accept the flogging sentence for it.
Good for the man who will strike the lashes. There is a proverb that says, “That who hits once, would receive two hits in return.”
They have been flogging people for a lifetime. These lashes are nothing compared to the numerous bullets which have pierced the hearts and heads of our people for 40 years.
I am willing to sacrifice for the families who have lost their loved ones, and those whose blood has been spilt.
These sham trials and the verdicts they have issued against me are so ridiculous that I don’t even think about them and I won’t appeal. Let them have more time to fabricate more cases against me.
Strength and resilience, message of Atena Daemi from inside prison
I am free today because being free does not necessarily mean that you should be on the other side of the bars. Every new sentence affirms that I am free. And I will stand to the end and until I am alive.
Atena Daemi – Evin Prison – July 2020

******
The Women’s Ward of Evin Prison is the place of detention for female political prisoners and the prisoners of conscience. Located in the north of the Iranian capital Tehran, the notorious Evin Prison is a 40-hectare compound with several wards, one of which is the Women’s Ward. The Women’s Ward of Evin Prison has two main halls. Hall no. 1 has three rooms. Room No. 1 holds 12 political prisoners, room no. 2 holds 10 political prisoners and room no. 3 holds 8 political prisoners. Hall no. 2 was previously used to detain the wives and children of male convicts. These detainees were released upon the Judiciary’s ruling in March 2020 after the Coronavirus outbreak. Upon the insistence of political prisoners, Hall no. 2 was used for temporary isolation of female prisoners suspected of contracting the Covid-19 disease. Read more about it here: https://tinyurl.com/ybodw9kj 

******
Human rights activist Narges Mohammadi and six other women in the Prison of Zanjan have developed dangerous symptoms of the Covid-19 disease while being denied access to tests and treatment. Narges Mohammadi’s condition has raised concerns. Ms. Mohammadi and six other prisoners have developed numbness, weakness, bone pain and have totally lost their sense of smell for more than a week. Human rights activist Narges Mohammadi was sent to exile in the Prison of Zanjan among common prisoners for holding a protest sit-in along with seven other political prisoners in the women’s ward of Evin Prison in solidarity with families of the victims killed in the November 2019 uprising. Fifteen inmates in the women’s ward of Zanjan Prison are suspected of being infected. Health conditions of Narges Mohammadi and six other women are worse than others. They are also deprived of going on medical leave. Narges Mohammadi has been deprived of her basic rights as a prisoner, including her right to call her children, since being relocated to Zanjan Prison 10 months ago. In a letter from Zanjan Prison, Narges Mohammadi recently announced that she had been physically attacked and insulted by the person of Gholamreza Ziaii, the warden of Evin Prison. She wrote in the letter: “Mr. Ziaii and more than 20 other men and women surrounded me, and started shoving me around. They took my arms and hand and pushed me inside an ambulance. Mr. Ziaii put his arms around me, picked me up and shoved me head on inside the ambulance.” Gholamreza Ziaii previously headed Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, also known as Rajaishahr. In July 2019, he was appointed as warden of Evin Prison on the order of the General Director of the Prisons Organization of Tehran Province. Ziaii has had a key role in ramping up pressure on Evin prisoners and imposing new illegal restrictions on them. He also headed the notorious Kahrizak Detention Center during the 2009 uprising in Iran, where several of the detained protesters were murdered.