Habib Afkari's Account of Iranian Prisons Following Exposures of Crimes in Syria

As images of the conditions in Bashar al-Assad's prisons in Syria circulate following his government’s collapse, Saeed Afkari shared a text from his imprisoned brother, Habib Afkari, detailing the experiences of his brothers in the prisons of the Islamic Republic. Saeed Afkari, whose brother Navid was executed by the Islamic Republic and whose other two brothers, Vahid and Habib, remain imprisoned, wrote in a post on social media platform X, 'Although it is difficult for me, seeing the images of Syrian prisons and for the awareness of the people, I decided to write a bit about the prisons of Iran and what happened to me and my brothers.' Habib Afkari continued his account by referencing September 4, 2020, when 'Navid' was transferred to solitary confinement for execution, stating, 'Vahid, Navid, and I were all in the same prison but in separate wards. Before his transfer to solitary, Navid had asked a friend to inform us, but the prison authorities cut off the phones to prevent any communication between us.' He added, 'A few days later, Vahid and I somehow learned about Navid's transfer to solitary for execution, and with great difficulty, we managed to reach the solitary cells and began to protest.' Habib Afkari noted, 'After our protest, all three of us—Vahid, Navid, and I—were brutally beaten and insulted by at least 20 armed prison guards. Then Vahid and I were taken to a basement that went down at least 20 steps from the main prison area. There, each of us was imprisoned in a cell about 3 by 4 meters, which only had a mat. There was no light, so we couldn't even see two meters in front of us. At the bottom of the cell, there was a 10 by 30 cm window through which masked guards would leave food without saying a word. The food was so little that we were always hungry. The iron handcuffs and shackles were like blades due to the cold, and a body that was full of pain from the blows could not even lie down.' Navid Afkari, born July 22, 1993, was an Iranian wrestler and a protester during the 2017 and 2019 protests in Iran. He was arrested for participating in these protests in Shiraz and was suddenly executed on September 13, 2020, without having a last meeting with his family, on charges of moharebeh (waging war against God) and killing a government agent during the protests in Adelabad prison in Shiraz. Vahid and Habib, Navid Afkari's two brothers, were also convicted by the Islamic Republic's judiciary. Vahid was sentenced to 54 years and 6 months in prison and 74 lashes, while Habib was sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison and 74 lashes. During the trial of the three, Vahid and Navid had a court-appointed lawyer, but Habib had no lawyer.