Uncertainty Surrounds Jawad Soodbar's Condition on the Eleventh Day of His Hunger Strike in Tabriz Intelligence Detention Center

Reports indicate that Jawad Soodbar's family is concerned about his condition in the Tabriz Intelligence detention center. Since announcing his hunger strike 11 days ago, Soodbar has had no contact with his wife. Elham Habibi, Soodbar's wife, wrote on her Instagram page on Sunday, December 17, "Today is the ninth day that Jawad is on hunger strike, and during this time they have not allowed him to call, and I am worried about his condition." Ms. Habibi added that "his life may be in danger." According to received reports, Mr. Soodbar's contact was cut off after he announced his hunger strike. Additionally, see: Concern of 200 activists regarding the continued detention of several national, civil, and political activists. Previously, the "Azerbaijani Political Prisoners Defense Association in Iran" (ADAP) reported in a statement on December 10 that individuals who were detained in the Tabriz Intelligence office reported torture against Jawad Soodbar, Ali Babaei, Yurosh Mehrali Bigloo, and Davood Shiri, detainees in Tabriz, after their release. ADAP condemned the torture of these three civil activists, citing their relatives, stating that "Ali Babaei's head and Jawad Soodbar's teeth were broken under torture, and Yurosh Mehrali Bigloo is subjected to daily beatings." According to this statement, those released from the Tabriz Intelligence office reported seeing "marks of cables and electric shocks" on Davood Shiri's body. The Ministry of Intelligence has not yet responded to this statement. Nevertheless, several political, professional, and civil activists, as well as human rights organizations, have repeatedly pointed to the physical and psychological torture in prisons and detention centers of the Ministry of Intelligence or the Revolutionary Guards. Reports indicate that several other detainees in the Tabriz Intelligence office have also been tortured. In this regard, Sina Yousefi, a lawyer currently residing in Berlin, Germany, told Voice of America that some of these detainees who were released a few days ago "reported that they had been tortured," and according to him, "the signs of torture are still on their bodies." Also see: Exclusive; Details of the "torture" of civil activists in the "unofficial" detention center of the Tabriz Intelligence office. Earlier, a large number of protesters against the "deliberate drying" of Lake Urmia were detained by government forces in various cities of East and West Azerbaijan and Ardabil in September of this year. Mr. Yousefi also told Voice of America that a joint case has been formed for Hamid Yeganehpour, Nasser Razmjou, Morteza Nourmohammadi, Hossein Azadi, Ali Babaei, Mohammad Reza Movahed, Yurosh (Ayt) Mehrali Bigloo, Araz Ebrahimnejad, Jawad Soodbar, Ebrahim Avazadeh, Davood Shiri, Mehrdad Ghaderi, and Amir Hossein Aghaei, and these imprisoned civil activists have been charged with "forming a group" and "gathering and colluding." Meanwhile, according to ADAP, Peyman Ebrahimi-Dinour, an Azerbaijani dance teacher and cultural activist, was sentenced to 22 months and two weeks in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Tabriz. Mr. Ebrahimi-Dinour was arrested by government agents in Tabriz in September of this year and was temporarily released about two months later on a bail of 300 million tomans. According to received reports, this Azerbaijani dance teacher and cultural activist was accused of "propaganda against the Islamic Republic through the publication of images and content opposing the regime on social media" and "insulting" the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic on social media. Exclusive; Continued detentions related to the drying of Lake Urmia with charges of gathering and collusion. Hadi Gholizadeh, a political activist, was arrested. Exclusive; Saleh Malabasi, a political activist, was arrested in the city of Ahar. Threats against the families of detainees in several cities of Ardabil and East and West Azerbaijan provinces.