Mohammad Hossein Aghasi: The Imprisonment of Mohammad Nourizad 'With Hands and Feet Tied' is Illegal

Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, the lawyer of political prisoner Mohammad Nourizad, referred to his meeting with this political prisoner on Tuesday, January 1, stating that his imprisonment 'for three nights' with 'hands and feet tied' in solitary confinement is 'incredible' and 'illegal.' Aghasi wrote on the social media platform 'X' that while his visit with Mohammad Nourizad was conducted in the presence of some prison officials, 'until I heard it from his own mouth in the presence of the supervising officials, I could not believe that he had been kept for three nights with hands and feet tied in solitary confinement.' The lawyer emphasized that this punishment for his client 'who is of sound mind does not seem legal.' Fatemeh Maleki, Mohammad Nourizad's wife, stated on January 1 that the officials at Evin Prison, in response to this political activist's protest about 'forced labor' from prisoners and the abundance of 'drugs in prison,' had kept him bound for three days in a cold solitary cell. Evin prison officials had previously imposed similar punitive measures in response to Mohammad Nourizad's protests. On June 9 of this year, after protesting against 'overpricing of fruits and vegetables' for prisoners at Evin, 'the drug mafia,' and 'open theft' from prisoners, Nourizad went on a hunger strike and was subsequently transferred to solitary confinement for five days. Mohammad Nourizad, a director, screenwriter, and one of the signatories of the '14th Statement' calling for the resignation of Ali Khamenei and a transition from the Islamic Republic, has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned in recent years. Nourizad, who had long worked at the Kayhan newspaper, has become one of the serious opponents of the Islamic Republic and its leader, Ali Khamenei, in recent years. After signing the '14th Statement,' he was sentenced in the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad to 15 years in prison, two years of exile to the city of Izeh, and two years of prohibition from leaving Iran. The continuation of Mohammad Nourizad's protests in prison has led to the opening of several other cases against him within the prison.