Dispatch of a Ministry of Intelligence Delegation to Khuzestan for 'Field Investigation of Torture' of Ismail Bakhti

Simultaneously with the support of a hundred teachers for Ismail Bakhti, the representative of the workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company, the legal deputy of the President announced that the Ministry of Intelligence has sent a delegation to Khuzestan for a 'field investigation' into the torture allegations against him. Meanwhile, Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, reported that Mr. Bakhti stated in a meeting with him that he was 'beaten and tortured' while in the Shush Intelligence Office and during his transfer to Ahvaz. In an interview with the Iran newspaper on Saturday, January 22, Mr. Motahari said that Mr. Bakhti met with him and four members of the Hope faction in Parliament: Mohammad Kazemi, Fatemeh Saidi, Abdolkarim Hossein Zadeh, and Jalal Mirzaei. According to Mr. Motahari, Ismail Bakhti said that after his arrest, he was held for two hours in the Shush Intelligence Office, where he was 'beaten' and 'tortured in some way' during the transfer to Ahvaz. He stated that officials from the Ministry of Intelligence denied the torture of Mr. Bakhti in the Hope faction meeting, claiming that he had 'engaged in a confrontation' with the agents, and they were 'forced to react.' Previously, officials from the Ministry of Intelligence had stated in a meeting of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Parliament that during the 'arrest and transfer' of Ismail Bakhti to the detention center, there were 'some confrontations' between security forces and Mr. Bakhti, but he was 'not tortured' during his detention. However, Laya Janidi, the legal deputy of the President, said on Saturday that the Minister of Intelligence has sent a delegation to Khuzestan for a 'field investigation' into this matter and 'I think they will soon provide explanations regarding this.' Ismail Bakhti had previously called for a public accountability from the Minister of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic in a televised debate, detailing the tortures he and Sepideh Gholian, who was arrested with him, endured. According to Mr. Bakhti, the agents of the Ministry of Intelligence were 'beating' him and Sepideh Gholian and were hurling 'various kinds of vulgar sexual insults' at them. Sepideh Gholian also tweeted about this, stating: 'During the arrest, Ismail Bakhti was trying to pull me out from under the blows of the agents, but he was beaten so badly that he lost consciousness.' Ismail Bakhti had previously stated that no truth-finding committee had met with him. Meanwhile, Farzaneh Zilabi, Ismail's lawyer, confirmed the meeting of the members of the Hope faction and the representative of the Attorney General with her client, stating that no official group or truth-finding committee designated by the Parliament or the government has met with Mr. Bakhti so far. Following reports about the torture of Ismail Bakhti, several former political prisoners also wrote about their experiences of torture during their detention. At the same time, a hundred teachers, referring to the beating of Mohammad Habibi and other teachers during labor protests and the 'abduction of Hashem Khashtaru and his hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital,' emphasized that 'the idea of Ismail Bakhti being tortured behind closed doors and out of public view is not far-fetched.' These teachers condemned the 'inhumane behaviors' towards Mr. Bakhti, stating: 'The truth cannot be distorted by broadcasting programs reminiscent of the identity programs of the Saeed Imam era.' Hoshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the head of the National Security Commission of Parliament, stated that in the meeting of this commission, a video of Mr. Bakhti's 'confessions' was shown, in which he 'confesses that he is affiliated with the Workers' Communist Party and that the policy of this party is to expand protests.' Asghar Karimi, the head of the executive committee of the Workers' Communist Party of Iran, explicitly denied the claim of Ismail Bakhti's affiliation with this party in an interview with Radio Farda.