Secretary General of the Participation Front Released After Six Years in Prison

Mohsen Mir-Damadi, the Secretary General of the Participation Front and head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Sixth Parliament, was released from prison on Tuesday evening, June 26, after serving six years. His release was reported by the Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, and other websites close to the reformists. Mr. Mir-Damadi was arrested in June 2009 and sentenced to six years in prison and a ten-year ban on political and press activities by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in May 2010. Meanwhile, the website Kalemeh, close to Mir-Hossein Mousavi, reported on Tuesday, citing Elham Mojaradi, Mr. Mir-Damadi's wife, that even without considering the new Islamic Penal Code, her husband's six-year sentence had ended on May 30. However, according to the date set by the prison, Mr. Mir-Damadi was supposed to be released on June 28. Kalemeh added that the Secretary General of the Participation Front was transferred to Ward 2A of Evin Prison in an 'unconventional action' from the afternoon of Monday, June 25, and was placed under the protection of the Intelligence Protection of the Revolutionary Guards. According to this report, agents aimed to 'prevent a welcoming ceremony' in front of Evin Prison, ultimately releasing Mr. Mir-Damadi 'in an unusual manner in front of his home.' Mohsen Mir-Damadi was a representative of Tehran in the Sixth Parliament and the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, but his qualification for the Seventh Parliament elections in 2003 was not approved by the Guardian Council. He was elected Secretary General of the Islamic Participation Front in 2006. Mohsen Mir-Damadi was also the managing editor of the newspaper Nowruz, the organ of the Participation Front and one of the major reformist media outlets of his time. This newspaper was banned in July 2002, and in addition, Mr. Mir-Damadi was sentenced to six months in prison. During his imprisonment, the Secretary General of the Participation Front, along with some political prisoners, wrote letters regarding various political events in Iran. For instance, in 2013, he, along with 54 other political prisoners, warned in an open letter to Barack Obama, the President of the United States, about the continuation of sanctions against Tehran, stating that it only caused 'suffering' for the Iranian people. In August 2010, Mr. Mir-Damadi, along with Mohsen Aminzadeh, Mostafa Tajzadeh, Abdollah Ramazanzadeh, Feyzollah Arab-Sorkhi, Mohsen Safaei Farahani, and Behzad Nabavi, filed a complaint against some commanders of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards based on statements made by a military official referred to as 'General Moshfeq,' accusing them of 'illegal' interference in the electoral process. Following an attack by agents and prison guards on Ward 350 of Evin Prison and the 'beating' of prisoners in that ward in April 2014, he, along with 11 other prisoners, went on a hunger strike for several days.