Court hearings for Majid Assadi, scheduled for Wednesday, September 26th, were canceled this week after Assadi refused to wear a prison uniform for his transfer to court and submit to illegal procedures by prison officials, according to reports from Mujahedin-e Khalq  (PMOI/MEK) sources inside Iran.

This is the second time court hearings for Assadi have been canceled this year. On August 18th, he was summoned to the Evin Court in Tehran for a hearing, but the proceedings were canceled after Assadi refused to wear a prison uniform and wrist and leg shackles for his transfer to the court.

Denial of Medical Treatment

MEK sources reported in August that prison authorities were denying Assadi badly needed treatment for a chronic medical condition. Assadi has been diagnosed by physicians with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), an autoimmune inflammatory disease that affects the joints in the spine. He also has optic inflammation and gastric ulcers. His digestive issues have worsened as a result of a lack of medical care while in prison.

Assadi was diagnosed with gastric ulcers and intestinal inflammation in September 2018, but prison officials have denied him access to physicians to treat these conditions for the past year.

Majid Assadi needs to see a specialist at a hospital outside of the prison once every three months to manage his AS, which is a painful and degenerative disease that requires ongoing treatment. However, the regime’s judiciary refuses to allow political prisoners to receive outside medical treatment in virtually all cases, and medical care inside Iran’s prisons is almost nonexistent.

Assadi, a graduate of Allameh Tabatabaei University, was arrested in his home in 2017 and charged with “propaganda and conspiracy against the establishment.” He was sentenced to six years in prison, followed by two years in exile. He previously served four years in prison from 2011-2015 for his political activism.

In 2012, while serving his previous sentence, Assadi went on a one-week hunger strike in protest of the regime’s treatment of two political prisoners in Ward 350 of Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. The prisoners, Ali Moezi and Vahid Asghari, had been transferred to solitary confinement and denied visitors.

The regime ruling #Iran continues to impose inhumane pressures on political prisoners.#HumanRightshttps://t.co/LhJcsazdIZ

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 28, 2019

Arash Sadeghi

The MEK also previously reported on another political prisoner who is being denied medical treatment. Arash Sadeghi underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in September 2018. After his surgery, he was immediately returned to prison on the orders of the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), despite medical advice. As a result, Sadeghi developed an infection and has lost sensation in his arm and hand. He now needs to undergo several rounds of chemotherapy to treat his cancer, but regime authorities are refusing to allow him to go to the hospital for this life-saving treatment.

Sadeghi is a human rights activist who is currently serving a 15-year sentence for insulting the regime’s leaders and “propaganda and conspiracy against the establishment.” Amnesty International issued a statement in August warning about the dire condition of Sadeghi’s health.

Staff Writer

In the wake of Ramin Hosseini Panahi’s death sentence, seven political prisoners at Rajaee Shahr jail in Karaj wrote an open letter to the regime and the Iranian public. The letter, entitled “Hanging is a murder by the government in all circumstances”, urged international organizations and sympathetic members of the public to rally against the barbaric and inhumane application of capital punishment.

Ramin Hosseini Panahi

Ramin Hosseini Panahi was sentenced to death in January on charges of “taking up arms against the state”. The 22-year-old Kurd’s trial lasted less than an hour, and he had visible evidence of torture on his body as he faced the charges in court. He was forbidden access to his family and his lawyer in the weeks leading up to the trial and received little information regarding the charges against him.

His death sentence has been widely criticised by international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, who have called for the imminent halt of the execution. The execution is due to take place on Thursday, May 7^th.

Hanging in Iran

Hanging is increasingly seen as a barbaric form of punishment, so much so that over 100 countries have outlawed the execution method. However, the opposite has occurred in Iran. It has increasingly become the mullahs’ preferred form of punishment for political prisoners. According to Amnesty International, Iran executes more of its own citizens than any other country on earth.

It was for this reason that the seven brave prisoners penned their open letter. They stated that we “would like to publicly express our concerns in this regard; we consider hanging a murder by the government, in all circumstances. We strongly condemn this inhumane act and call for its eradication. We are hoping that international societies, human rights organizations, and conscientious people, will not give up their efforts and continue to fight.”

Saeed Masoori, Zaniyar Moradi, Saeed Shirzad, Arash Sadeghi, Payam Shakiba, Loghman Moradi, and Majid Asadi risked their lives by penning their open letter. However, they have succeeded in drawing more attention to the barbaric and tyrannical measures employed by the clerical regime in Iran. Whether their letter helps bring about a change in the penal system remains to be seen, but their bravery and determination in penning the message to the world will ensure that the regime is held accountable for its systematic abuse of the Iranian justice system.

Staff Writer