Hangameh Shahidi's Protest Letter to the Head of the Judiciary: I Was Imprisoned for Six Months Without Evidence

Hangameh Shahidi, a journalist and political activist, in her second letter after her release, protested to the head of the judiciary about her "six months of solitary confinement without evidence and recent threats from the judiciary's protection unit." She attributed this to the "personal vendetta of the prosecutor." In her letter published on her Instagram, addressed to Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, she referred to her arrest on March 9 of the previous year, stating: "The country's security apparatus, acting as a judicial agent with the direct opinion of Tehran's prosecutor (Abbas Jafari Dolat Abadi), accused me of false and baseless charges of connection with the news channel 'Amad News,' without any official and legal evidence, and proceeded to a month of temporary detention in solitary confinement in Ward 209 (in Evin Prison)." According to this letter, Hangameh Shahidi was then transferred to Ward 241 of the judiciary's protection unit, which she noted is "exclusively for judges and employees of the judiciary, not for political and security defendants." The journalist and political activist also mentioned that the judiciary's information protection extended her solitary confinement for another five months, and each time she protested this without having the right to a lawyer, the interrogators in Ward 241 stated that "your temporary detention order in these six months is extended monthly by the order and insistence of Ayatollah Amoli Larijani, and he is behind your case." Shahidi added that due to her first letter after her release to the head of the judiciary, she was "surprisingly threatened by the personnel and interrogators of the judiciary's protection unit" two months ago. In her letter, she cited the words of the head of the judiciary, who on January 25, in a meeting of judicial officials, stated: "There should be complete oversight regarding temporary detention orders so that the issuance of temporary detention orders is minimized, and in cases where it can truly be avoided, they should not be issued at all." According to the judiciary's website, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani also said: "It should not be the case that, for example, a bail order is issued at a time when it cannot be posted, forcing the defendant to prison." According to ISNA news agency, temporary detention in criminal law refers to imprisoning a defendant during preliminary investigations, which sometimes continues until the substantive proceedings and the issuance of a verdict and its execution begin. In her letter, Shahidi raised the questions: "Was it really correct to extend solitary temporary detention monthly for six months, based on a suspicion and false claim? And is it not regrettable and distressing for a defenseless, innocent woman to be issued a bail order of 200 million tomans by the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office?" She stated that "the basis for some behaviors in the judiciary is personal problems with individuals" and called on the head of the judiciary to restore her lost material and spiritual rights due to six months of solitary confinement without solid and legal evidence and solely due to the vendetta of the Tehran prosecutor. This journalist and political activist was released from Evin Prison on September 7. In a photo shared on her Instagram after her release, she appeared very emaciated. The post stated that Shahidi "was released after six months of temporary detention in solitary confinement and 15 days of hunger strike (eight days of dry hunger strike and seven days of wet hunger strike)." It was previously reported that Shahidi's hunger strike was in protest against "indecision and the lack of accountability of judicial officials." Hangameh Shahidi, a member of the National Trust Party, advisor to Mehdi Karroubi on women's issues in the 2009 elections, and a journalist, faced health issues related to heart disease and kidney problems during her six months in temporary detention and solitary confinement, and her family had expressed serious concerns about her condition. Shahidi was released from prison while reports of hunger strikes by several political prisoners in Evin and Rajaei Shahr prisons had emerged, and the Tehran prosecutor stated that the judiciary would not "surrender" to the hunger strikes of prisoners and that "these actions are failed matters." Abbas Jafari Dolat Abadi stated on September 1: "The judiciary will not yield to these matters. The punishment of prisoners must be fully executed, and we will not be influenced by some actions of prisoners, including hunger strikes." After Shahidi's release, he said: "She did not hunger strike; rather, she was released after preliminary investigations and the issuance of a bail acceptance order."