Prison Officials Prevent Kazem Ali-Nejad from Surgery

Yashar Tabrizi, a civil activist and former political prisoner, reported on Wednesday that officials at Evin Prison have once again prevented Kazem Ali-Nejad, a political prisoner, from being sent to the hospital for hand surgery. Mr. Tabrizi wrote on the social media platform 'X' that the deprivation of this political prisoner from receiving insulin and other medical treatments constitutes torture for him and other political prisoners. According to him, Kazem Ali-Nejad suffers from heart and liver diseases. In recent years, there have been multiple reports about the prevention of medical treatment for political prisoners by Evin Prison officials and other prisons in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including Nasrin Javadi, a jailed labor activist. This action by the Islamic Republic of Iran has drawn criticism from human rights organizations. The Azerbaijani Political Prisoners Defense Association (ADAP) reported that Shams Esmailzadeh, the editor of the monthly 'Azar Tribune', was released from Tabriz Prison on Tuesday, March 21, after serving 9 months in prison. According to the report, he faced security charges due to his coverage and video recording of empty polling stations during the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections and his reference to the participation rate of under 20% in these elections. Mr. Esmailzadeh had also published a piece referencing Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, regarding the illegitimacy of governments with electoral participation below 50%. He was tried on charges such as 'membership in a group' and 'propaganda against the regime' and was sentenced to 9 months in prison for 'propaganda against the regime'. He spent his 9-month sentence in the health (security) ward of Tabriz Prison. This was not the first time Shams Esmailzadeh had been arrested due to his media activities. Previously, on October 5, 2022, following protests after the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in the custody of the morality police, he was arrested for publishing calls for gatherings on his Instagram page and was sentenced to 9 months in prison. ADAP wrote: 'The release of this journalist occurs while many Azerbaijani media and civil activists remain in prison and security pressures against journalists continue.' Kamran Sakhtemangar, a labor activist, was released from Sanandaj Prison on bail. According to 'Kurdpa', Mr. Sakhtemangar's release took place on Tuesday, March 21, after posting bail. This labor activist was arrested by the security forces of the Islamic Republic in Sanandaj on February 6 of this year. Kamran Sakhtemangar's court hearing was held in mid-January of this year in Branch 109 of the Sanandaj Criminal Court on charges of 'defamation and slander', and he was released after posting bail. A source close to the family of this labor activist had previously told Haraana that 'this case was opened following a complaint by the Sanandaj prosecutor and Jahangir Eliasi, the director of roads and urban development of Kurdistan, against Kamran Sakhtemangar. The reason for the complaint was his exposure of the misconduct of various officials and the provision of related documents.' Kamran Sakhtemangar has a history of previous arrests and imprisonment due to his activities. Uncertainty surrounds Saman Bidar in Ardabil Prison. Saman Bidar, an Azerbaijani civil activist, is still in a state of uncertainty in Ardabil Prison despite having spent 11 days in detention. Relatives of Mr. Bidar told ADAP that he was interrogated after being arrested on March 2 by the intelligence agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Ardabil and was transferred to the intelligence detention center in Tabriz the following day. According to them, Saman Bidar was transferred to Ardabil Prison after several days of detention and interrogation. These sources told ADAP: 'Saman is one of the leaders of the Tractor Sazi team, who, unlike government leaders, has chanted popular slogans for change and the ethnic rights of the people of Azerbaijan.' They stated: 'After Mr. Bidar's arrest, all the posts published on this Azerbaijani civil activist's Instagram page were deleted by security agencies.' ADAP wrote that Saman Bidar had previously been arrested, interrogated, and tortured multiple times by security agencies, the last of which occurred on July 15 of this year along with Siamak Sifi and Salar Mahdipour. He was also arrested during the protests of November 2019 and was sentenced to 3 years and 45 days of suspended imprisonment for propaganda against the regime and insulting the leadership by the Ardabil Revolutionary Court in June 2021. A video of the gathering of families of political prisoners sentenced to death in front of Evin Prison. The punitive transfer of Zartosht Ahmadiraghab to solitary confinement in Qazalhesar Prison. The women’s ward of Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz joined the campaign 'No to Execution' on Tuesdays. Trial in prison; Fatemeh Sepahri: either acquittal or imprisonment until the end of the Islamic Republic. Amnesty International called for the abolition of the death penalty and the release of Varisha Moradi. A women's rights activist stated: the regime has turned life into hell with gender apartheid. On International Women's Day; at least 30 women were executed by the Islamic Republic in one year. Abdulaziz Azimi Qadim's hunger strike in Evin Prison.