Exclusive | Details of the 'Insanity Project' Against a Political Prisoner; Reza Mohammadi: My Father's Death was a 'Government Murder'

Reza Mohammadi, a political prisoner held in Qazal Hesar prison, described his father's death as a 'government murder' and a 'heart attack' resulting from witnessing his own 'brutal' arrest. He stated that judicial authorities were attempting to execute an 'insanity project' against him. In a letter obtained by the Persian section of Voice of America, Mohammadi recalled the 'last image' of his father during their 'farewell to life' on May 1, 2023, just one day before his 30th birthday, when agents of the IRGC suddenly raided their home. He wrote: 'Suddenly, the security forces of the IRGC stormed into the house, and in the utmost brutality and inhumane behavior, they first violently restrained my hands and feet, took my phone, and then went after my father.' This political prisoner described the 'law-breaking' actions of the IRGC forces with 'forced entry and breaking the safe haven of the home' and 'invading the personal privacy of his and his father's mobile phone,' stating: 'As I resisted, one of the IRGC security forces drew a gun and placed it on my forehead, saying, 'Unlock your phone,' insisting that the phone's password must be opened.' Reza Mohammadi emphasized: 'One of the darkest scenes of these illegal behaviors was my beating by unscrupulous agents in front of my father's horrified eyes, who shouted at them to stop beating me, and this was the last scene of me that was etched in my father's mind. In the midst of the brutality, I saw how my father collapsed upon witnessing these scenes; I have no doubt that from that moment, the conditions for my father's death were set.' He described the violence of the IRGC agents during his transfer to the 'Revolutionary Court of Pardis,' stating: 'Inside the vehicle, one of the agents punched my nose, causing blood to gush out, and after that, while my hands were restrained, they pressed my phone to my finger to unlock it and then took me to the unjust Revolutionary Court of Pardis, which had been delegated by the 3rd branch of the Evin Court. They placed the charges against me in front of me, to which I responded that in the absence of my lawyer, I would not sign any papers and did not accept the charges.' Reza Mohammadi emphasized the violation of his 'legal and civic rights' and 'human dignity,' stating that without permission, his lawyer was not allowed to enter the case 'at the investigation stage,' adding: 'An hour later, they transferred me to the illegal and security detention center of Base 1 Alpha in the solitary confinement section of the Quds Force of the IRGC in Tehran and interrogated me illegally at night, to which I did not respond.' This political prisoner deemed the behavior of the IRGC officials as 'a clear instance of human rights violations' and, rejecting the accusations against him, added that 'right there, based on the content of the information in my phone, which I had published for enlightenment, they shamelessly formed a case against me with the charges of conspiracy and propaganda against the regime.' Mohammadi added: 'After that, further accusations were leveled against me, such as membership in a humanitarian organization that works in rescue methods and disobedience to agents (due to refusing to wear prison uniform) and acquiring money through illegitimate means, which included expenses that were mainly deposited by my family and only a small part by two or three of my friends, which has no legal prohibition and is mostly used as slander by security forces to tarnish the image of many activists. Surprisingly, this amount reached over 17 million tomans, which the issued ruling calculated according to the mentioned amount in the appeals court, plus double the amount as a fine (in favor of the Islamic Republic government).' This constitutionalist prisoner also stated: 'It is a pity that regime affiliates easily steal billions of dollars and tomans by encroaching on national revenues and wealth, but they never encounter the law and prison, while for opponents of the government, even the transfer of small rials becomes a basis for accusation and case-making and imprisonment.' Reza Mohammadi also explained his situation in Evin prison, stating that due to 'protests and reports' he had made from Evin, shortly after the transfer of several political prisoners from Evin to Qazal Hesar, he was taken to solitary confinement 240 in Evin prison, where upon hearing this news, his father, who had collapsed with the image of my brutal arrest, suffered a heart attack and said goodbye to life. Alas, despite this 'government murder' that took my father from me and my family, the repressive security and judicial institutions of the autocratic government did not allow me to attend his funeral and memorial service.' He emphasized: 'After this tragedy, they still did not leave me alone and summoned my brother, asking him to portray me as a mentally ill person, which we realized was the insanity project that they wanted to forcibly send me to Aminabad like many political prisoners, including the late Behnam Mahjoubi, to complete the insanity project, which I thwarted with my resistance and refusal to attend the forensic examination.' This political prisoner, currently in Qazal Hesar prison, explained: 'Their pretext in this project was that they claimed I insulted the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and crossed the regime's red lines, as I had explicitly stated in a video I prepared and published before my arrest and imprisonment: 'What language should we use to say we do not want you?' According to Reza Mohammadi, 'These oppressions and injustices, law-breaking and human rights violations that are imposed by the government and its repressive agents on opponents are aimed at the survival of the tyrannical rulers and are a small example of what many freedom-loving individuals and activists in this land have endured, who have always used the law and the tool of religion to expand dictatorship and keep their hands free in plundering national reserves and wealth.' Reza Mohammadi emphasized: 'Undoubtedly, we neither accepted support for terrorism nor war-mongering, and we truly shout loudly from within the prison that a government that shoots at protesting people and their children and executes prisoners is illegal and does not represent the people of Iran.' He also described the elections in the Islamic Republic as 'a show,' stating that this government 'its election show is also staged and illegitimate. It is not hidden from the eyes of the people that we, too, in solidarity with the people and their legitimate demands, boycott the election show.' According to the ruling of the Tehran Appeals Court, Reza Mohammadi, a constitutionalist political prisoner, has been sentenced to '14 years and six months in prison and a monetary fine.' Previously, an informed source had told Voice of America that the rulings issued for him and Samaneh Norouz Moradi and Mahbubeh Rezaei in a joint case were deemed 'unjust' and emphasized that these three political activists 'did not commit any crime' and their activities were 'only for freedom-seeking' and within the framework of 'freedom of expression.'