Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, September 3, 2019–Political prisoner Mohamamd Saber Malak-Raisi has been under torture for the past three months in Ardabil Prison, northwest Iran, reports indicate. He has been transferred to the prison’s quarantine section where he has been placed under severe torture. Psychologically ill prisoners are usually held in Ardabil Prison’s quarantine section.
Malak-Raisi, from the city of Chabahar in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, southeast Iran, was arrested by the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) back in 2009 when he was only 17 years old. He was detained as MOIS agents were not able to access and arrest his older brother. Malak-Raisi himself was sentenced to 17 years behind bars and exile.
Malak-Raisi and 11 other prisoners penned an open-letter to Javaid Rahman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, shedding light on human rights violations imposed on prisoners.
Malak-Raisi is being held in exile, thousands of kilometers away from his family, making any visit by family members extremely difficult. His only contact is through phone calls and prison authorities have deprived him of regular phone calls and meetings with his family. He was first placed behind bars in the Zahedan Intelligence Department in southeast Iran and then transferred to the city prison. After his trial he was transferred to Ardabil in northwest Iran.
In his letters, Malak-Raisi has explained how he was placed in solitary confinement for two years under torture and atrocious conditions. Several years into his sentence, Malak-Raisi continues to report numerous cases of human rights violations while behind bars.
