Yasser Rahmani-Rad Summoned for Free Consultations on the Anniversary of Aida Rostami

Yasser Rahmani-Rad, a doctor who was detained during the protests of 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police for attempting to assist injured detainees, has been summoned to court once again. Sources close to this protesting doctor told Voice of America that the reason for these repeated summons is to 'stop his humanitarian activities.' This 34-year-old doctor from Khorramabad announced that in memory of his deceased colleague, Dr. Aida Rostami, he would provide free consultations to patients both in person and online for ten days. Following this decision, Mr. Rahmani-Rad has been summoned by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran on charges of 'inciting public opinion.' In a note dedicated to Dr. Rostami on Instagram, he wrote: 'We will join you in a world where absolute freedom prevails, in a world where there is no place for the tyrants and their soldiers of destruction and looting who cannot even tolerate the treatment of the wounded from their oppression.' Aida Rostami was a medical volunteer for injured protesters during the 2022 protests who, after being identified by government agents, disappeared, and her body was returned to her family with her eyes removed and signs of torture on her body. Dr. Yasser Rahmani-Rad was arrested in December 2022, along with Behnam Ohadi, a psychiatrist, and Homayoun Eftekhariannia, an operating room technician, while traveling to Mahabad to assist the injured during protests, and after 46 days of 'imprisonment and torture,' he was released on bail of 1.5 billion tomans. Payam Darafshan, the lawyer for this protesting doctor, previously explained that Mr. Rahmani-Rad is 'a benevolent doctor who provided non-discriminatory medical services to injured people' as a result of being shot with 'lead pellet bullets in various parts of the body,' and especially 'gave hope to those blinded as a result of gunfire.' Many doctors who voluntarily treated injured protesters during the nationwide protests of 2022 faced government backlash, and several of them were killed, injured, or arrested. Aylahr Haghi, a medical student, was also among the medical staff killed during these protests, shot directly in the back by government forces. Hamid and Farzaneh Ghareh-Hosseinlou, a couple of doctors who were arrested during the nationwide protests of 2022 while providing medical care to an injured person who happened to be a government suppression force member, are currently in prison on charges of 'participation in murder' and 'moharebeh' (waging war against God).