Iran: Activist’s Health Turns Dire In Solitary Cell

Since his arbitrary arrest on 1 September 2021, Abbas Vahedian has been held in a windowless cell where bright lamps are kept on 24 hours, causing him sleep deprivation and distress. Every few days, he is taken to a hallway for a short walk while blindfolded. Since his arrest, he has also been also denied adequate healthcare, bedding, warm clothing, and regular family visits. Ministry of intelligence agents told him that for his detention conditions to improve, he must denounce his political activities in writing and reveal the password to his phone. These abuses amount to torture, a serious human rights violation and a crime under international law.  

Intelligence agents and prosecution authorities have been refusing to vaccinate Abbas Vahedian against Covid-19 and refer him to a specialist for his lung complications including breathing difficulties and persistent coughs. They did not give him the inhalers brought by his family until January 2022. As such, he is at increased risk of severe illness if he contracts Covid-19 in detention. He also suffers from gum disease, which emerged during his previous 11-month imprisonment in 2019 and 2020 as a result of medical neglect of the open wounds he sustained in his mouth during arrest. In December 2021, after repeated follow-ups by his family, he was transferred to a dental clinic outside prison and two of his teeth were pulled out. No adequate pain relief or further care were provided, despite warnings by his dentist that he would risk worsening gum infections and tooth loss without long-term routine dental treatment. Since his arrest, he has also developed severe neck pain due to sleeping on the ground without a pillow. 

Abbas Vahedian was sentenced to a total of 21 years in prison, consisting of an 11-year prison sentence issued by Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad in December 2021, and a 10-year prison sentence issued by Branch 5 of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad in October 2021. In both cases, he was suddenly taken, without prior notice and information about the nature of charges against him, from detention to the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad, told by judges whom he has described as aggressive and biased that he was on trial for acting against national security, and asked if he had anything to present in his defence. In both instances, he responded that due to the serious legal breaches committed in the course of his criminal proceedings, he did not recognize the legitimacy of the court hearings and insisted that his lawyer be present. In both cases, the presiding judges ended the hearings within minutes and refused to reconvene. His 10-year prison sentence was finalized 20 days after it was issued, following his refusal to file an appeal. His appeal against the 11-year sentence is currently pending.  

The 11-year prison sentence consists of one year for “spreading propaganda against the system” and 10 years for “founding groups with the purpose of disrupting national security”. The groups cited in the court verdict are the Convergence Council of Iranian Movements, known by its Persian acronym Shahjaa, and Iran Think Room (Otagh-e Fekr-e Iran). The former group, Shahjaa, advocates, according to its website, for the transition of Iran, through peaceful means, from the Islamic Republic system, which it characterizes as a “corrupt and oppressive theocracy”, to a secular democratic system committed to international human rights law. Abbas Vahedian has noted that he was not a founding member of Shahjaa,but served as its spokesperson between its establishment on 8 April 2021 and 17 May 2021. The latter group, Iran Think Room, was an informal brainstorming group which led on several online campaigns launched in the months prior to Iran’s presidential elections in June 2021, including “No to the Islamic Republic” and “The Campaign to Create Shame”. The separate 10-year prison sentence was issued solely in connection with an open letter that Abbas Vahedian and 13 other co-signatories published on 12 June 2019 calling for the resignation of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and fundamental changes to the country’s constitution. This peaceful activity formed the foundation of multiple spurious charges of which he was convicted, including “insulting the Supreme Leader”, “gathering and colluding against national security”, “spreading propaganda against the system”, and “disrupting public opinion”. 

Abbas Vahedian was arrested by several ministry of intelligence agents in a village near Rezvanshahr in northern Gilan province on 1 September 2021 following his participation in an online debate wherein he reiterated his political beliefs. Apart from two brief family visits in December 2021 and January 2022, which took place in the presence of intelligence agents, his contact with his family has been limited to weekly calls, which have generally lasted a few minutes and made in the presence of an agent, preventing them from speaking freely.