The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) have reported that the political prisoners of Iran’s south-eastern city of Zahedan are supporting the “Free Iran” gathering in Paris. They issued a statement supporting this rally that is organised by members and supporters of the Iranian Resistance. The rally is due to be held on 9th July.
Their statement that had to be smuggled out of Zahedan Prison called on fellow Iranians to support the Iranian Resistance in their fight against the human rights abuses carried out by the Iranian regime: “We political prisoners of the Central Prison of Zahedan call on all our countrymen, both inside the country and abroad, to definitely take part in the major gathering of Iranians in Paris which will be taking place in defense of the rights of the Iranian people in order to prevent all these catastrophes that are taking place.”
They added: “Individuals who are arrested are denied access to a lawyer until after their interrogation and they are kept uninformed about the charges in their files. In interrogation centers [prisoners] are subjected to the worst sorts of tortures, the most common of which is being tied to a bed and flogged with heavy cables.”
They also highlighted that in Sistan and Baluchistan Province many of the people who are arrested are poor people who “are denied proper education and literacy”. This is exploited by judges who reformulate the prisoners’ statements and use it in their case against them. Due to this horrifying practice, many “defendants who had not carried out any crimes are sentenced to life imprisonment or execution”.
The political prisoners said that “executions in the country continue unabated and there has been no change for the better” during Hassan Rouhani’s presidency.
The statement ended with a call on participants at the “Free Iran” rally to be the voice of the political prisoners in Iran.
The NCRI report that the signatories of the statement included the following political prisoners: Hamzeh Rigi, Mowlavi Noureddin Kashani, Mowlavi Abdolvahed Shahnavazi, Mowlavi Mohammad Amin Dehqani, Mowlavi Abdolrahim Kuhi, Farooq Barani, Abdolkhaleq Rigi, Abed Bampuri, Eshaq Kalkali, Zubeir Hud, Abed Baran-Zehi, Mosayeb Baran-Zehi, Shahab Dehvari, Vahid Hud, Mohamad Dehvari, Abubakr Rostami, Sajjad Baluch, Shir-Ahmad Hossein-Zehi, Meysam Chandani, Mohammad Hossein Rigi, Dor-Mohammad Shah-Bakhsh, and another prisoner only identified by his first name Esmaeil.
Every year the Iranian Resistance holds a gathering in Paris. This year it will be held on 9th July and tens of thousands of supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK) are expected. The Resistance will address policymakers, journalists, religious leaders and civilians from all over the world and will show them that the regime is a cruel and inhumane regime that completely disregards human rights.
