Persian Reports by Daneshjoo News | Translation by Laleh Irani
“Shabnam Madadzadeh denied the right to use phone or see visitors”
In an unexpected move on October 14th deputies in Rajai Shahr prison banned Shabnam Madadzadeh, a jailed member of the Islamic Association of Tarbiat-Moalem University, from prison visits and using the telephone.
According to Daneshjoo News, the bans come two months after Shabnam Madadzadeh was transferred to Rajai Shahr prison on August 2, 2010. She has not been allowed any prison leave since her arrest on February 20, 2009. Despite her young age, Shabnam suffers miserably from digestive ailments and heart disease.
While held in Evin, Shabnam had requested a sick leave from Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi during her last visit with him. Two weeks later her sick leave was promised to her family, but instead she was transferred to Rajai Shahr prison.
The warden of Rajai Shahr prison Ali Mohammadi verbally communicated the ruling to Shabnam Madadzadeh and responded to her protest that the reason for the transfer was known to him but it was none of her business. He gave Shabnam Madadzadeh a few seconds to say goodbye to her family over the phone. According to reliable sources, Shabnam’s physical and mental condition has deteriorated considerably since this incident.
Human rights activist and jailed lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is also one of Shabnam Madadzadeh’s lawyers, said that transferring Shabnam to Rajai Shahr prison is against the law. “Even though Ms. Madadzadeh was sentenced to 5 years in prison and exile to Rajai Shahr prison, transferring her under the pretext of exile is entirely arbitrary and against the law. The final decision of the Appeals Court has not been given to me or the defendant. This was not a formal decision and will not be acceptable until it is communicated to us. The decision has no legitimacy, therefore the transfer is completely illegal,” she stated.
Prior to the transfer, Shabnam Madadzadeh had endured incarceration in ward 209 of Evin prison for 520 days. Bahareh Hedayat, Mahdieh Golroo, Shiva Nazar Ahari and Mahboubeh Karami were also held in this ward.
“Faulty Courts and Prison Transfer”
After a year of temporary imprisonment, Tehran’s branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced Shabnam and her brother Farzad to 5 years imprisonment and exile. Judge Moghiseh convicted both of them of “Moharebeh” [waging was against God] and “propaganda against the regime”. They both denied all charges against them on numerous occasions and insisted on their innocence. During the trials, judge Moghiseh was verbally abusive and used profanity with Shabnam Madadzadeh.
During the court appearances Shabnam protested the torture methods that were used on her and her brother. She recounted how she was forced to witness kicks, punches, lashings, and torture toward Farzad in prison. This was a method employed by officials to force Shabnam to make false confessions. Judge Moghiseh announced in court and in front of lawyers that this was not considered torture.
Recently, judge Moghiseh has handed out most of the verdicts against students, including one’s for Milad Asadi and Bahareh Hedayat.
Gohardasht (Rajai Shahr) prison in Karaj is a notoriously horrendous and most gruesome dwelling for political prisoners in Iran. Many political prisoners, including Ahmad Zeidabadi, Isa Saharkhiz, , Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, Rassoul Badaghi,Massoud Osanloo, Behrouz Javid Tehrani, and others are held in this prison. They are detained under the worse conditions and tremendously mistreated by prison officials.
Another issue is that the most dangerous criminals are also detained in Gohardasht prison, which means that political prisoners are faced with menacing threats and attacks. For Shabnam, it is most troublesome that she is one of the only women held for political reasons in this prison. Most of the other female prisoners are accused of heavy crimes like murder and drug trafficking.
Fatemeh Ziyayi is another female political prisoner recently transferred to Rajai Shahr prison. She is around 60 years old and suffers from multiple sclerosis.
In the past months, tensions have been high in ward 350 of Evin prison after the protests of many political prisoners. Bozorgnia, the head of ward 350, threatened several prisoners, including Majid Tavakoli , Ali Malihi , Zia Nabavi , and Majid Dori with exile to Rajai Shahr prison. Since the threat was made, Majid Tavakoli was transferred to Rajai Shahr and Zia Nabavi was transferred to exile in Ahvaz’s Karoun prison.
– Maryam Nayeb Yazdi
Editor, http://persian2english.com/?p=15412
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