New Approach to Dealing with Labor Activists; Arrest with Ambulance and Transfer to Psychiatric Hospital

Hashim Khastaar, a retired teacher and labor rights activist in Mashhad, has been hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital since November 1st, and his family managed to meet him on Friday, November 3rd. According to his wife, Sadiqa Maleki, this retired teacher is currently detained by the Ministry of Intelligence on unspecified charges and is being held in the hospital for unknown reasons, while she claims that Hashim Khastaar has no physical or mental ailments. In an interview with Sadiqa Maleki, we asked her about the details and reasons for her husband's detention. Mrs. Maleki told Radio Farda that an unknown number contacted Mr. Khastaar's family and stated that he was transferred to the hospital due to 'mental disorders.' Nevertheless, the Khastaar family's visit is contingent upon the permission of the Revolutionary Prosecutor. Mrs. Khastaar points out that they were told at the prosecutor's office that his detention was not requested by this judicial authority. She adds that no institution has taken responsibility for her husband's detention, and ultimately, the Khastaar family's visit with him is conditioned on the presence of a prosecutor's representative, and apparently, the order for his detention was issued by the prosecutor. Mrs. Maleki states that her husband is in good condition and is not taking any medication, but he only faced an attack from one of the patients during the transfer to the psychiatric hospital. She recounts that regarding Hashim Khastaar's arrest, when he left home to go to the garden and got out of the car in front of the garden, individuals who had come after him with an ambulance asked him to accompany them, and he was directly transferred to the psychiatric hospital by ambulance. She mentions that this arrest was carried out at the prosecutor's order, and ultimately, Mr. Khastaar was handed over to the intelligence office on Friday afternoon.