Abdulaziz Azimi Qadim's Hunger Strike in Evin Prison

Abdulaziz Azimi Qadim, a defrocked cleric imprisoned in Evin Prison, has been on a hunger strike since March 3. In a voice message released from prison and shared with the Azerbaijani Political Prisoners Defense Association (ADAP), he stated: "I have gone on hunger strike in protest against the handling of my case, the charges that do not align with my activities alongside others accused in this case, and in protest against the additional pressure on Azerbaijani activists and the issuance of unjust sentences in a court that has numerous legal flaws." He condemned the sentences issued against "civil activists of the Azerbaijani community" and invited other activists inside and outside of prison to join his hunger strike, even if only in a limited manner, in protest against these sentences and in support of referring the cases of imprisoned activists to the Supreme Court. According to the report, a group of Azerbaijani civil and political activists, including Yurosh Mehrali Beigloo, Hamed Yeganeh Pour, Sima Alipour, and Vahid Abhari, staged a 48-hour hunger strike outside of prison in support of this political prisoner. ADAP reported that this Azerbaijani political prisoner has requested a meeting with Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i, the head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to respond regarding the sentences issued by Judge Salavati. Azimi Qadim criticized the performance of this judge, questioning: "How is it that a judge whose rulings are frequently overturned or rejected by the Supreme Court remains the chief judge of the courts of the Islamic Republic of Iran?" In this voice message, he asked the head of the judiciary: "Why did the judicial and security system of the Islamic Republic transfer individuals arrested in various cities of Azerbaijan, such as Tabriz, Ardabil, and Bonab, to Tehran to be tried in the Tehran Revolutionary Court? And why was he not sent to the Special Clerical Court as a cleric but tried in the Revolutionary Court by Judge Salavati?" Abdulaziz Azimi Qadim was arrested by Iranian security forces last February. According to ADAP, after enduring several months of interrogation under psychological and physical torture, he was sentenced to six years in prison by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati. ADAP also reported that Vahid Asadi, an Azerbaijani activist residing in Rasht, was transferred to Evin Prison on March 4 to serve a four-year sentence. According to Mr. Asadi's relatives, after he went to Branch 1 of the Criminal Execution Court of Evin, officials arrested him and transferred him to Ward 4 of Evin Prison to serve his sentence. The report states that "Vahid Asadi was sentenced in a joint case with 14 other Azerbaijani activists. This group was sentenced to a total of 107 years in prison on security charges. Previously, Human Rights Watch described these charges as fabricated and linked the convictions of these activists to their activities in defense of civil rights and the rights of ethnic minorities. This international human rights organization stated in a statement: "Authorities must annul all these illegal charges against these Azerbaijani prisoners, release those currently imprisoned, and allow people to advocate for civil rights and minorities." On March 6, ADAP announced that Reza Salimi Golu, Samad Heydari Dashtjardi, and Amin Taqizadeh Yuzbashlu, three Azerbaijani civil activists, were summoned to the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office in Tabriz. According to a notice received by ADAP, Judge Jalil Jabar Khodi Bonab, the investigator of Branch 10 of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office in Tabriz, has ordered these three to appear within five days to present their final defenses. The charges against these activists include "propaganda against the regime" and "gathering and colluding to commit crimes against internal and external security." Typically, Iranian security and judicial institutions levy such charges against civil, professional, and political activists. According to ADAP, the judge referenced reports from the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, accusing these three of graffiti with nationalist and separatist themes and hanging the flag of another country in the city of Tabriz. Samad Heydari Dashtjardi and Reza Salimi Golu were arrested on January 24 by security forces and were released after 13 days on a bail of one billion tomans. Amin Taqizadeh was also arrested on March 2 and was released three days later after posting a bail of one billion tomans from the central prison of Tabriz. The arrest of Salar Taher Afshar, a civil activist, in Urmia; requests from European legal associations for the release of Mohammad Reza Faqihi, a political prisoner lawyer; confirmation of prison sentences for ten civil activists by the Tehran Court of Appeals; Morteza Nourmohammadi Nadarli, a civil activist, sentenced to prison; a message from a female political prisoner to the rivals of Raisi's succession: "The oppressor will never reach the destination"; three political prisoners transferred to solitary confinement after a hunger strike; and over 760 individuals demanding a public trial with a jury for Azerbaijani political activists.