A 29-year-old Iranian man, who also faces the risk of years in prison in Iran, was sentenced to three years and one month in prison in Armenia.
According to IranWire sources, Mohammad Havashemzadeh, who had been detained during the 2022 protests in Iran, had only appeared in court once in the past five months to hear the charges against him.
Havashemzadeh, who had spent several months in uncertainty under pressure and torture in Tehran’s Evin and Fashafouyeh prisons, left Iran after being released on bail. During the summer, while seeking refuge in Armenia, he was arrested by Armenian police.
Havashemzadeh was detained on July 6 at Yerevan airport while attempting to travel to a European country.
Charged with “illegal departure,” he remains imprisoned in Armavir Prison – one of Armenia’s most notorious facilities.
Majid Mirzaei, a civil rights activist and former political prisoner who shared a cell with Havashemzadeh in Iran, told IranWire that he is in dire conditions.
Havashemzadeh, a 29-year-old from southern Bandar Abbas, worked as a barista in Türkiye’s Antalya before being arrested in Tehran during the 2022 protests.
On October 11, 2022, after two and a half years away from his country and family, he returned to Iran to visit his mother and sister. He was arrested outside his sister’s home on Pirouzi Street in eastern Tehran.
Sources close to Havashemzadeh previously told IranWire that he was accused of “espionage” due to his time living in Türkiye, with interrogators pressuring him to confess to being a spy.
The sources said his case was full of uncertainties, which led Tehran’s notorious judge, Abolqasem Salavati, to move Havashemzadeh from Fashafouyeh Prison to Evin’s Ward 209 for more questioning.
In an audio recording sent from prison, Havashemzadeh said that he had returned to Iran only to visit his mother and sister when security forces attacked and detained him outside his sister’s home.
A source familiar with his case told IranWire that a week after arriving in Iran and visiting his mother in Bandar Abbas, Havashemzadeh traveled to Tehran.
Like thousands of other citizens, he joined the street protests. Six plainclothes agents surrounded him, beat him severely, sprayed pepper spray in his face, and dragged him away on a motorcycle to the IRGC Intelligence’s secret detention center known as Ward 1A.
Ward 1A is a covert IRGC Intelligence detention facility where many protesters were tortured during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests.
Havashemzadeh spent over seven months in limbo in Fashafouyeh and Evin prisons. According to the HRANA human rights website, he was temporarily released from Evin Prison on bail in April 2023.
Now, IranWire has learned that he has been imprisoned in Armenia since mid-July.
Majid Mirzaei, a former political prisoner and friend of Havashemzadeh who is currently a refugee in Armenia, told IranWire that even after his release on bail, Havashemzadeh remained under pressure from security forces and was ultimately forced to leave Iran.
Mirzaei explained that Havashemzadeh made it to Armenia and intended to travel to a European country but was arrested at Yerevan Airport on July 6 for “illegal departure.”
“He wanted to reach a safe place, but unfortunately, with the fake visa he was given, Armenian police arrested him,” Mirzaei said.
“It’s been nearly six months now, and he’s still in prison. We tried a lot, along with political activists, to secure his release on bail, but we haven’t succeeded. The only thing we’ve managed to do so far is prevent his deportation back to Iran.”
IranWire’s sources said that Havashemzadeh intended to leave Armenia legally, but the visa issued to him was fake, which led to his arrest and imprisonment in Armenia.
Mirzaei said, “Mohammad is in poor condition and facing difficult circumstances in Armavir Prison, but he continues to maintain his usual resilience.”
Armavir Prison, located in southwestern Armenia, is one of the country’s 10 detention facilities. It is notorious for its harsh conditions.
A unit within Armavir Prison is designated for international detainees, and its inhumane conditions have been documented in various reports.
Mirzaei, who saw Havashemzadeh at his court hearing, said, “To my knowledge, Mohammad is the only human rights or social activist detained in Armenia’s judicial system.
“Despite his case being supported by a human rights lawyer and the UN, we’ve made no progress. His imprisonment is unjust. He endured months of detention and severe pressure in Iran to confess under duress.
“He had no choice but to leave the country, and now he’s facing severe psychological and physical pressure. He doesn’t speak the language, and imprisonment in a foreign land is particularly harsh.”
Without a private lawyer, Mirzaei warned, Havashemzadeh risks being forced to serve the full sentence or even being deported back to Iran.
The Armenian government has assigned a court-appointed lawyer for him.
“Without a private lawyer, there’s little hope. If we can hire one, we might be able to resolve his case,” Mirzaei said.
Mirzaei called on human rights activists and international organizations to assist his friend and former cellmate.
“A three-year and one-month sentence could become final. The Iranian government is doing everything it can to have Mohammad extradited, even for propaganda purposes. It’s critical that everyone who can step in to ensure this young man isn’t unjustly imprisoned abroad or sent back to Iran.”
The plight of former political prisoners forced to flee Iran due to increased security pressures continues to worsen, especially in neighboring countries.
Reports have detailed the hardships faced by Iranian refugees in Türkiye and other nations.
In August 2023, Shahryar Baratinya, a political prisoner from Yasuj, was deported from Türkiye to Iran after months of uncertainty.
Iranian border authorities arrested him upon arrival and transferred him to Evin Prison.
Baratinya was subsequently sentenced to five years and eight months in prison by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. He is currently serving his sentence in Evin Prison.
Source » iranwire