Political Prisoner Khaled Zamani Serving 30 Years for Giving Directions

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Political prisoner Khaled Zamani is serving his 13th year of a 30 year moharebeh (enmity against god) sentence in Yazd Central Prison for “giving directions to two villages.” There are currently five prisoners on security charges in Yazd Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, political prisoner, Khaled Zamani from Khoy, has been behind bars for 13 and a half years without a day of furlough. In 2008, he was arrested in Ghatour, Khoy province for “connection with a Kurdish party (PJAK)” and subjected to five weeks of interrogations and banned from visitation rights for a year.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “A year prior to Khaled Zamani’s arrest, there was a clash between the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Intelligence forces and a Kurdish party in an area called Jahanam Dareh in Khoy. IRGC Intelligence later arrested three people in connection with that clash. First they arrested Fahim Rezazadeh and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment and exiled him to Kerman Prison. The other person arrested was Fasih Yasamani who was executed in Khoy Prison in 2010. Khaled Zamani was arrested by the IRGC Intelligence two months later.”

“Khaleh Zamani had only given PJAK directions to two villages. So in reality, he had only provided guidance and didn’t participate in the clash. He wasn’t a member of that group and was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for giving directions to two villages. Khaled was tortured for several days and nights and was physically tortured in the worst possible way,” the source added.

Khaled Zamani was sentenced to have one arm and one leg amputated in the preliminary hearing but on appeal, it was changed to 30 years imprisonment.

“Khaled has spent the last 12 years in Yazd Prison. Throughout the years, he has requested to be furloughed several times and while it was approved by the Yazd Prison Disciplinary Board, the IRGC Intelligence in Khoy refused to allow it. He’s also banned from any other privileges pertaining to amnesty or conditional release. A prison official in Yazd Prison has told him that we’ve approved your furlough request every time but it’s always rejected by the IRGC Intelligence and we can’t do anything for you. His children have been forced to drop out of school due to the financial situation caused by his imprisonment so they can also pay for their father’s expenses in prison,” sources further added.

Another political prisoner in Yazd Prison, Ghader Mohammadzadeh has spent 17 years behind bars.

Three Ahvazi Arab men at the prison were arrested for “dancing and chanting Arab national slogans on Arbaeen Hosseini (the 40th day of Imam Hossein’s death in the Shi’a calendar), writing slogans on walls and inviting people to boycott the parliamentary elections.” The exact charges against them are unknown. Their names are:

1. Salman Chaheri, 35, sentenced to 25 years imprisonment and has served nine years.
2. Jafar Ben-Abdullah, 30, sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and has served ten years.
3. Ahmad Debad, 35, sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and has served ten years.

“They were arrested in Shush on charges relating to national security such as acting against national security and subjected to nine months’ of interrogations in the Ministry of Intelligences’ detention centre. Salman Chaheri passed out several times under torture and has lost the hearing in his right ear due to the torture,” sources told Iran Human Rights.

The three men were also prison exiled to Yazd and denied furlough.