Soheil Arabi, a political prisoner, who is serving his sentence in Brigade 5 of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, released an audio file describing the situation in this prison.
This political prisoner incarcerated is Brigade 5 of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, was first sentenced to death by the judicial authorities in November 2013, on charges of “insulting the Prophet of Islam” and writing critical articles on social media, which was later reduced to 7 years in prison. By releasing an audio file, he has described the unsuitable situation of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary (Fashafuyeh Prison).
In this audio file, which is acquired by the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners, Soheil Arabi has spoken out about the poor health of Fashafuyeh Prison during the coronavirus crisis.
In this file, this political prisoner points out the non-observance of health protocols in the condition of coronavirus outbreak in Greater Tehran Penitentiary, the abundance of drugs and psychedelic pills in the prison and its use by inmates, the lack of sanitary materials and facilities, lack of ventilation space, library and sports grounds.
In his speech, Soheil Arabi referred to the Greater Tehran Penitentiary (Fashafuyeh Prison) as “the largest torture chamber in the Middle East” and called for independent journalists to visit the prison.
Earlier, the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners had obtained information that indicated the difficult and gruelling situation of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary during the coronavirus pandemic for inmates. Reports that indicated prison officials did not control coronavirus.
According to the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners, the Deputy of Health in the Greater Tehran Penitentiary had previously transferred a large number of prisoners, some of whom had infected with coronavirus, to Brigade 5. After this action, the corridors of Brigade 5 witnessed an increase in the number of patients contracted Covid-19, so that the estimated number of the infected patients reached 160.
The lack of control over the coronavirus has doubled the concerns of civil activists about the situation of political prisoners being held in the corridors of Brigade 5 of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary.
Mostafa Abdi, Abbas Dehghan, Kianoush Abbaszadeh, Mohammad Habibi, Zartosht Ahmadi-Ragheb, Shapour Ehsani, Amir Hossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi, Mohammad Rajabi and Mohammad Sharifi-Moghaddam are among the political and prisoners of conscience jailed in Brigade 5 of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary.
Soheil Arabi suffers from a number of physical problems, including severe coughs, severe hypoglycemia, severe pain due to “blunt trauma” and infection in the body.
Prison officials had previously claimed that the medical records of this political prisoner, who was suffering from hydrocele (swelling of water in the testicles), was missing, and asked him to resubmit his medical records.
Soheil Arabi had refused to eat or drink since Monday, March 16, 2020, in protest of the unsuitable conditions of his detention in the Greater Tehran Penitentiary and the continuation of his imprisonment.
Soheil Arabi was dispatched to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, but was returned to prison without medical treatment due to his non-acceptance by the hospital. It is said that this action was due to the debts of the Prisons Organization to the hospital and the refusal of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary to pay the expenses.
Soheil Arabi has been in prison since November 7, 2013, and has been denied temporary leave all this time. He was transferred from Evin Prison to Greater Tehran Penitentiary on January 21, 2020.
After many changes in the trial process and the verdicts issued, while he was serving a 7-year and 6-month sentence in the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, a new case was opened against him in prison on September 22, 2018, by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, on charges of “propaganda activities against the regime” and”disturbing the public opinion”, which was sentenced to 3 years in prison, 3 years in internal exile, and a fine.
Hoghoghebashar.iran 