Mother of Majid Assadi urges international human rights organizations to take action to secure immediate release of this resistant political prisoner
Families of political prisoners in Iran undertook various acts of protest over the past days to restore freedom and rights of their loved ones in captivity.
The protest gathering of the families of political prisoners in Mashhad, an interview by the mother of political prisoner Majid Assadi, and the publication of a video clip by the wife of the Kurdish political prisoner Heydar Ghorbani after his death verdict was upheld, were among these protests.
Mothers, spouses and relatives of political prisoners have always had a leading and significant role in defending the trampled human rights in Iran under the rule of dictatorships.
Denial of contact with the political prisoners in Mashhad
Families of political prisoners in the Central Prison of Mashhad (a.k.a. Vakilabad Prison) held a gathering outside this prison on August 10, 2020 in protest of their loved ones’ being denied contacts and visits with their families over 10 days.
Women had actively participated in this protest held on the anniversary of their arrest two years ago. One of the protesters said: “It has been ten days now that we have not had any calls from our loved ones nor any visits. What is their sin? They are serving their sentences! Why don’t they (the authorities) let us see our loved ones? Why have they deprived them of making a phone call?”
Mother calls for immediate release of his son
The mother and brother of Majid Assadi were also among the families of political prisoners who protested last week to the Iranian Judiciary’s refusal to release him. They also expressed alarm over his health conditions.
Fatemeh Vakili, Majid Assadi’s mother, in an interview on July 30 said the judiciary had sent them a letter informing them that he would be released on July 20 after serving 3.5 years of his sentence. “But the Ministry of Intelligence opened a fabricated new case for him” and he and two other prisoners, Mohammad Bannazadeh Amirkhizi and Payam Shakiba, were transferred from Gohardasht (Rajai Shahr) Prison in Karaj, to ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran.
Ms. Vakili spoke out against the Judiciary and said: “How can they fabricate a new case against a prisoner who is in their own prison? Why don’t they leave him alone? He is ill.”
Majid Assadi is presently detained in solitary confinement in ward 209 of Evin and is under physical and psychological pressure.
Mr. Assadi suffers from various illnesses including inflammation of the spinal cord, GI complications, vision problems, a lump in the liver, symptoms of the coronavirus infection, loss of weight and physical weakness.
His mother says he was deprived of medical treatment while in detention in Gohardasht Prison and the prison authorities did not send him to a civic hospital to receive his needed care.
Morteza Assadi, his brother, tweeted on August 3, 2020: “In a telephone call from Evin’s 209, he said his physical condition is bad. He was still struggling with the virus when he was transferred to Evin. Now, his eye has inflated again, and he might lose his right eye if this situation continues.”
“Majid’s life is in danger, and he must be freed unconditionally,” Morteza Assadi wrote.
Ms. Vakili also called on international human rights organizations: “We ask human rights organizations to be our voice. Majid must be freed, immediately.”
Majid Assadi was a student of Tehran’s Allameh University when he was arrested on July 3, 2008, for engaging in peaceful political activities.
In March 2010, he was sentenced to four years in jail on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security.” He was released after serving his sentence but re-arrested in February 2017 by agents of the Intelligence Ministry. In December 2017, he was sentenced to six years in jail. According to the regime’s laws, he must have been released after serving two-thirds of his sentence, but was not because of fabrication of a new case against him.
Political prisoner’s wife protests upholding of his death sentence
Sharareh Sadeghi, wife of Kurdish political prisoner Heydar Ghorbani, protested against his death sentence.
Heydar Ghorbani and his wife, Sharareh Sadeghi
Heydar Ghorbani was informed of his death sentence on January 28, 2020 while he was detained in the Prison of Sanandaj, in the capital of Iranian Kurdistan.
The death verdict was upheld on August 6, 2020, by the regime’s supreme court, and passed on to the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Kamayaran to be implemented.
Sharareh Sadeghi posted a video clip on the internet, urging the people of Iran and international human rights defenders and organizations to take action to save the life of her husband. She said in this clip: “My husband was under arrest and interrogation for one year by the Intelligence Ministry and the IRGC Intelligence. He was tortured in various forms. Eventually, he was sentenced to death without having access to a lawyer of his choice, and on the basis of forced confessions and an unfounded fabricated case.”
