Amnesty International Calls for the Release of Hossein Rafiei

Amnesty International has launched a campaign urging human rights supporters to protest the six-year prison sentence for Hossein Rafiei, a retired professor at Tehran University, and to demand that Iranian authorities facilitate his swift release. The organization's statement, published on Wednesday, March 16, indicates that Mr. Rafiei has been imprisoned solely for his peaceful political activities and that, with his wife now ill and in need of surgery, the authorities have not allowed him to be by her side. Hossein Rafiei, 71, a national-religious activist, was sentenced to six years in prison and two years of prohibition from engaging in social media, media activities, and membership in political parties and groups by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Salavati, a ruling that was also upheld by the appeals court. Amnesty International's statement highlights Mr. Rafiei's health condition, as he suffers from heart issues and high blood pressure, and notes that he does not receive the necessary and regular medical care in prison, with the unsanitary conditions of Ward 8 of Evin Prison further jeopardizing his health. Hossein Rafiei has been in prison since late June 2015. During this time, the American Chemical Society expressed concern about his situation in a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and over 360 university professors from Europe and the United States, including Noam Chomsky, have urged Hassan Rouhani to ensure his immediate release. However, recent reports indicate that Mr. Rafiei's wife's health has deteriorated, suffering from heart and respiratory issues. Mr. Rafiei's daughter published a letter addressed to Hassan Rouhani in mid-March stating that the relevant authorities have opposed granting her father leave under such circumstances, preventing him from being with his wife who needs surgery. In this context, concerns about Hossein Rafiei's situation in prison have been raised in a protest letter from his child to Hassan Rouhani, and the appeals court upheld the six-year sentence for Mohammad Hossein Rafiei, a jailed member of the National-Religious Activists Council.