Exclusive: Judicial Officials Do Not Implement 'Release from Temporary Detention' Order for Yasser Rahmani-Rad

Days after the issuance of a 'release from temporary detention' order for Yasser Rahmani-Rad, an informed source from the case of this detained doctor in Lorestan province told Voice of America that judicial officials are not implementing the higher authority's order, and he remains in custody. The informed source stated on Thursday, October 5, that despite the issuance of the 'release from temporary detention' order and the follow-ups by Yasser Rahmani-Rad's relatives, the detained doctor has not yet been released. According to him, the Eighth Branch of the Appeals Court in Khorramabad issued the 'release from temporary detention' order on Tuesday, October 3, and when the relatives of this 'benevolent doctor' visited the Romeshkan judiciary, they were not given a proper response. For instance, on Wednesday, officials said 'no order has arrived,' and on Thursday they stated 'it has arrived,' but 'Koushki,' the judge of the First Branch of the General Court of this county, has not come to work, and he must sign it. An informed source had previously told Voice of America that Yasser Rahmani-Rad, a general practitioner and one of the detainees from the nationwide protests of 2022, was arrested on September 21 by four government agents after searching his home and confiscating the mobile phones of him and his family members. Payam Darafshan, Yasser Rahmani-Rad's lawyer, told 'Emtidad' that he is a 'benevolent doctor who provided medical services without discrimination to injured individuals' due to 'the shooting of lead pellet bullets in various parts of the body' and especially 'gave hope to those blinded as a result of gunfire.' This human rights lawyer stated that 'after a maximum of one week of interrogation,' he expected his release and mentioned that on October 1, he visited the General Court of Romeshkan and subsequently went to the Eighth Branch of the Appeals Court in Khorramabad to follow up on the status of the objection to the detention order. The judges of the Appeals Court 'considering his background and social status,' did not agree with the detention order and issued the release order, sending it for implementation to 'the First Branch of the General Court of Romeshkan,' but despite the law emphasizing the urgency of the matter and the order being issued by the highest judicial authority in the province, it has not yet been implemented after several days. According to reports received by Voice of America, Mr. Rahmani-Rad has been accused of 'spreading falsehoods and disturbing public opinion' due to publishing content on social media, including a note regarding protesters who were injured in the eye due to gunfire from the Islamic Republic forces. He had previously criticized the Islamic Republic for adopting 'Goebbels-like methods' and wrote on Instagram that this 'method and system have been tested by all dictators in history and have always led to their downfall.' On August 5, based on a previous summons, he visited the Third Branch of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office in Khorramabad and, after being informed of the charges of 'spreading falsehoods and disturbing public opinion,' returned home on bail after submitting 'his father's salary slip,' and officials told him he would be summoned again for his charges. Yasser Rahmani-Rad was arrested in Azar 1401, along with Behnam Ohadi, a psychiatrist, and Homayoun Eftekhari-Nia, an operating room technician, while traveling to Mahabad to assist the injured in the protests, and was released on bail after 46 days of 'imprisonment and torture.'