Mehdi Mahmoudian released from prison

On 8 January 2024, the human rights defender Mehdi Mahmoudian was released from Evin prison. The human rights defender had remained detained since August 2021, when he was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison in multiple cases including four years on the charge of “gathering and colluding against national security” for calling to gather to commemorate the victims of PS 752 by lighting candle; two years on the charge of “gathering and colluding against national security” for intending to file a complaint against the country’s National Task Force against Coronavirus for the mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis; and seven months in prison on the charge of “propaganda against state” for his activities against death penalty. After the application of article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, the most severe single sentence can be effective, and in Mr. Mahmoudian’s case, the remaining of the four years executable prison sentence has been subjected to the Pardon Scheme announced in February 2023. On 8 January 2024, Mehdi Mahmoudian was released after having served another year in prison in relation to his work defending the right to health in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mehdi Mahmoudian had previously served a five-year prison term (2009-2014) on charges of “mutiny against the regime” for his role in documenting complaints of rape and abuse of detainees at the Kahrizak Detention Center. The detention center was closed in July 2009 after Mahmoudian and others documented the pervasive abuse. Mahmoudian also worked with the Center for the Defense of Prisoners’ Rights.

His release occurred on the fourth anniversary of the downing of the Ukrainian airliner PS752 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps killing 176 civil passengers on board. While those who were responsible for shutting down the civilian airliner remained with impunity, Iranian authorities prosecuted human rights defenders such as Mehdi Mahmoudian and Bahareh Hedayat for peacefully protesting against it and calling for accountability.

On 16 August 2022, Mustafa Nili announced on his Twitter account that Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals has confirmed the initial verdict issued by Branch 29 of Tehran Revolutionary Court with respect to, what has come to be known as the case of the Right-to-Health defenders, which includes Mustfa Nili, Arash Keykhosravi and Mehdi Mahmoudian. The Court of appeals has confirmed the initial verdict without holding a new court session.

The verdict was built on the charge of “gathering and colluding against national security” because of the intention of the human rights defenders to file a complaint against the country’s National Task Force against COVID-19. The court sentenced Mustafa Nili to four years in prison, a two year ban on practicing law and a two year ban on giving interviews to media; Mehdi Mohammadi was sentenced to four years in prison, a two year ban on giving interviews to the media; and Arash Keykhosravi was sentenced to two years in prison, a one year ban on practicing law and a one year ban on giving interviews to the media.

The three human rights defenders were among a group of seven human rights defenders, including five lawyers and one journalist, who were arbitrarily arrested by Iranian authorities on 14 August 2021 as they prepared to file a complaint against the country’s National Task Force against COVID-19, including the Minister of Health and other officials responsible for the mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis. The human rights defenders were arrested at the office of the Tehran Citizens’ Rights Protection Association, a human rights organization they had recently established and registered.

Mehdi Mahmoudian, Arash Keykhosravi, and Mustafa Nili have been arbitrarily detained by the Iranian authorities since August 14, 2021. On August 14, 2021, Iranian authorities arbitrarily arrested a group of seven human rights defenders, including five lawyers and one journalist, as they prepared to file a complaint against the country’s National Task Force against Coronavirus, including the Minister of Health and other officials responsible for the mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis.

Mehdi Mahmoudian is a human rights defender, a political journalist and blogger, who has previously served a five-year prison term (2009-2014) on charges of “mutiny against the regime” for his role in documenting complaints of rape and abuse of detainees at the Kahrizak Detention Center. The detention center was closed in July 2009 after Mahmoudian and others documented the pervasive abuse. Mahmoudian also worked with the Center for the Defense of Prisoners’ Rights.

The human rights defenders were arrested at the office of the Tehran Citizens’ Rights Protection Association, a human rights organization they recently established and registered. Two lawyers, Leila Heydari and Mohammad Hadi Erfanian, were released after a few hours. Two other detainees from the group, lawyer Mohammadreza Faghihi and human rights defender Maryam Afrafaraz, were also released on bail on August 29, 2021. The three other members of the group, human rights defender and journalist Mahmoudian and human rights lawyers Nili and Keykhosravi however, have remained in prison for over three months, and  are facing an ongoing criminal trial.

In an open letter published by Mahmoudian, Nili, and Keykhosravi in October 2021, they wrote they had experienced rights violations in prison, including being held in solitary confinement for over a month, and they were under pressure to refrain from filing their complaint. Two weeks after their arrest, Iran’s judiciary spokesperson stated that the detainees and bailees were charged with the crime of "disruption of public order." On November 15, 2021, a group of Iranian human rights defenders and activists inside the country published a statement with over 500 signatories condemning their detentions and charges, saying that their detentions and charges violate fair trial guarantees under Article 34 of the Iranian Constitution and demanding their immediate release.

In late summer of this year, Iran faced its fifth peak of Covid-19 with an official daily death rate that reached over 600 people. With more than 128,000 total deaths since the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, authorities have failed to provide details into their plans for domestic vaccine production and repeatedly changed policies on vaccine imports. Iranian citizens have been expressing their anger on social media at the government's mismanagement, lack of transparency, and unclear vaccination policies during the first six months of 2021. In their unfiled complaint, Mahmoudian, Nili, and Keykhosravi echoed the sentiment of countless Iranians, arguing that authorities who delayed vaccine production and imports were responsible for worsening health consequences of the pandemic.

Front Line Defenders condemns the arbitrary detention of Mahmoudian, Nili, and Keykhosravi, which we believe is connected to, and intended to curb their human rights activities in violation of international human rights law.  Iran is a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified in 1975. This treaty guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of the law as well as legal representation to assure protection of rights. Article 9 of the ICCPR recognizes and protects both liberty of person and security of person. According to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), deprivation of liberty is arbitrary when it results from the exercise of fundamental rights including free expression and association as laid down in article 19 of the ICCPR and article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Moreover, interference in the work of human rights defenders and lawyers in the form of arbitrary detention results in a violation of the right to a fair trial under article 14 of the ICCPR.

The Iranian government should immediately and unconditionally release the three arbitrarily detained human rights defenders and drop all charges. The Iranian government should also guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders, journalists, and lawyers in Iran are able to carry out their legitimate professional activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions. Furthermore, Front Line Defenders calls on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as the member states of the Human Rights Council to raise their cases with the Iranian government at the highest levels, and to pressure them to uphold the rights of these lawyers and human rights defenders.