Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
RFL/RE – Human right activists say Khadijeh Mehdipour, a political prisoner being held in Ilam prison in western Iran, has been beaten again by inmates who are serving time for violent crimes.
The Hengaw Human Rights Organization says Mehdipour, who is in prison without being segregated from dangerous prisoners, was beaten by violent criminals at the instigation of the prison authorities and even forced to sleep in the prison library.
Some human rights sources, including the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), say Mehdipour has been handed new charges while in prison for “insulting Islamic sanctities.” Because of this, she has been banned from making phone calls with her family for a month, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Earlier in February, Mehdipour was also attacked and beaten by a number of prisoners accused of violent crimes, which resulted in an injury to her eye.
The Iranian Prisons Organization announced at the time that the reason for the “conflict” was for Mehdipour voicing “obscenities and insults” about Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, the current leader of Iran, and Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force who was killed by the United States in 2020.
Reports of political prisoners being held alongside dangerous criminals in prisons across Iran are not uncommon.
Mehdipour was arrested in October 2021 for her activities posted on social media and sentenced to 20 months in prison by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Ilam for “propaganda against the regime, insulting the founder of the Islamic republic and insulting its leadership.”
