Release of Political Prisoners Reza Norouzi and Meysam Dehbanzadeh After 'Beating and Bleeding'

On Saturday, June 6, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran reported the release of political prisoners Reza Norouzi and Meysam Dehbanzadeh from 'Greater Tehran Prison'. The Harana news agency announced: 'These two political prisoners, along with Majid Roshan Nejad, were beaten by six prison guards on Thursday, June 4, during which Mr. Dehbanzadeh suffered a head injury and bleeding but was denied medical treatment. After this incident, Meysam Dehbanzadeh was transferred to Ward 3 of the prison and was shackled to a pole until noon on Friday.' The news agency also reported, citing Erfan Karam Vaisi, a lawyer, that Reza Norouzi was released after serving two years and one month in prison, while Meysam Dehbanzadeh was released on bail of 500 million tomans due to the opening of a new case against him during his imprisonment. These two prisoners had been transferred from Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj to Greater Tehran Prison on May 2 of this year. Reza Norouzi, a constitutionalist political activist, was arrested in May 2021 along with his wife and two children in Tehran's Enghelab Square for chanting slogans against the Islamic Republic and setting fire to his 'pick-up' truck, calling on people to join the 'No to the Islamic Republic' campaign. After his arrest, he was sentenced to a total of ten years in prison by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, which was ultimately reduced to five years during the appeal process under Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code. It is reported that Reza Norouzi has been pardoned. Meysam Dehbanzadeh was also arrested in December 2020. His charges were stated as 'gathering, disturbing public order, and propaganda against the regime', and he was among those injured during the attack on prisoners during the fire at Evin Prison. Fashafouyeh Prison or 'Greater Tehran Central Prison' is located 32 kilometers south of Tehran. This prison was established to create a camp for drug offenders and violent crime prisoners, but in recent years it has become a place for the exile of political prisoners, a move that has been repeatedly protested by political prisoners and human rights activists.