Injury to Tahereh Riahi's Eye During Interrogation Denied

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported, citing an 'informed source', that an official denied claims regarding the 'injury to the left eye' of imprisoned journalist Tahereh Riahi 'during interrogation' during a meeting with her family. This 'informed source' told the campaign that Ms. Riahi's family will not believe reports about their daughter's well-being until they meet her. The report did not mention the name of this official or the meeting with Ms. Riahi's family. According to this report, the mother of the imprisoned journalist was also hospitalized last week 'after a spike in her blood pressure and severe anxiety' and is still hospitalized, and 'her condition has worsened since hearing about her daughter's eye injury.' The Borna news agency, where Tahereh Riahi was the social service editor, also announced on Thursday, February 3, that Bijan Qasemzadeh, the investigator from the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office, denied reports about the injury to Ms. Riahi's left eye in a meeting with the CEO of Borna news agency. Tahereh Riahi, the social service editor of the Borna news agency, which is affiliated with the government, was arrested on Tuesday, December 27, by 'agents of the Ministry of Intelligence.' Previously, the International Campaign for Human Rights had reported, citing an 'informed source', that the 'cornea of Ms. Riahi's left eye' was 'injured during interrogation' and she was 'taken to the hospital for treatment.' According to the website, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Ms. Riahi has contacted her family three times since her arrest, with her last short call on February 1. In this last contact, she reportedly said that 'she is feeling very unwell and is having a very hard time.' Several websites reported on Tuesday, January 24, that Zeinab Karimi, a former reporter for the IRNA and Mehr news agencies and a collaborator on a television program, and Saleh Deldam, a young cinema producer and director, have also been arrested. Eisa Saharkhiz, Afrin Chitsaz, Ehsan Mazandarani, and Saman Safarzadeh, four journalists arrested in November 2015, are still imprisoned. Mehdi Saharkhiz, Mr. Saharkhiz's son, had previously reported that his father has been on hunger strike since Saturday, January 14, in protest of the 'illegal sentence of six months of additional imprisonment' and 'repeated violations of laws by security officials and the non-observance of prisoners' rights.' The lawyer of Soheil Arabi, a political prisoner, requested the transfer of his client to the hospital due to his 'serious physical condition and seizures' in Evin prison. Amir Salar Davoodi, Soheil Arabi's lawyer, reported this and urged judicial authorities to transfer him for treatment to a hospital outside the prison. He added: 'It is a right of prisoners that if the prison medical staff cannot provide treatment or diagnose the cause of seizures or illness, the patient must be transferred to a hospital outside the prison.' According to Mr. Davoodi, 'prisoners with sentences under ten years can request conditional release after serving one-third of their sentence, and Soheil Arabi has made this request several times but has not been granted.' Meanwhile, the International Campaign for Human Rights also reported, citing an 'informed source', that Soheil Arabi has 'fainted several times and suffered seizures in prison since October.' He stated that in the prison infirmary, 'he was only prescribed ranitidine, which is a stomach medication.' Soheil Arabi was arrested in November 2013 by agents of the IRGC's Quds Force and was sentenced to death in September 2014 by Branch 76 of the Tehran Criminal Court for 'insulting the Prophet and disrespecting sacred beliefs', a sentence that was confirmed by the Supreme Court in December of that year. However, ultimately, Branch 34 of the Supreme Court of Iran overturned Soheil Arabi's death sentence in July 2015 and accepted his request for retrial. According to reports, Mr. Arabi was eventually sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. Some websites reported that Soheil Arabi had 'eight Facebook pages under different names', for which he was accused of 'insulting the Prophet and disrespecting sacred beliefs' due to his writings on those pages. According to Article 262 of the Islamic Penal Code, anyone who 'insults' the Prophet of Islam, Shiite Imams, or other prophets is subject to the death penalty. However, according to Article 263 of this law, if the accused claims that their statements were made under duress, negligence, error, or while intoxicated or angry and without regard to the meanings of words or quoting from another, it does not count as 'insulting the Prophet.' Meanwhile, the International Campaign for Human Rights reported in September about the issuance of death sentences for Sina Dehghan and Mohammad Noori for 'insulting the Prophet' through their writings on social media. According to this report, Sina Dehghan and Mohammad Noori are currently being held in Arak Central Prison, and following their protests against the death sentence, their case has been sent to the Supreme Court.