Mehdi Fathi

Mehdi Fathi is a teacher from Fars province and a member of the teachers’ guild. He was arrested and sentenced to prison for guild activism. He was also arrested and tried for exposing the financial corruption of the Friday Prayer Imam of Pasargadae in his handling of charity funds.

• <coverage-outsourcing id='37470'> <reference source='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TtCfwfYz78'> In the summer of 2020, one of Mr. Fathi’s students lost his life in a car accident. Mr. Fathi gave a speech at his funeral, blaming it on the incompetence of the officials at the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development. He said the subpar roads in the region have led to many accidents, but the authorities refuse to fix the roads. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='37469'> <reference source='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TtCfwfYz78'> Mohammad Pordel, the Friday Prayer Imam of Pasargadae sent a letter to Alavi Foundation asking for “help for the deprived people of Pasargadae”. The names of 600 citizens were attached to the letter as citizens in need of help. Later it was revealed that at least 140 names on the list were his relatives and friends in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='38062'> As the financial corruption of the Friday Prayer Imam of Pasargadae was being exposed, Mr. Fathi was arrested and released a few days later on bail. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='37471'> <reference source='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TtCfwfYz78'> The first branch of the public court of Pasargadae presided by Ami Arsalan Khademi sentenced Mehdi Fathi to 14 months in prison and 25 million rials in fines for disseminating lies to agitate public opinion, and 50 million rials in fines for insulting the Friday Prayer Imam of Pasargadae, Mohammad Pordel (Article 134: 14 months in prison and 25 million rials fine). Sometime later Iran International TV published a report about the corruption of that Imam. Besides the fact that 140 names on the list were relatives and friends of Imam Mohammad Pordel, it was also revealed that many of the names on the list had passed away years ago. Iran International released an audio file in which an IRGC official states that Imam Pordel has not given the money to the people in need and had claimed that he himself knows who is needier. In another file, a teacher in Fars province confirms that the list contains the names of people from other provinces and deceased individuals. Mehdi Fathi was one of the individuals who exposed Imam Pordel’s corruption and sent a petition with 7,000 signatures of the locals to the special clerical court of Fars province. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='37472'> <reference source='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S69UwFG5p9c'> He was violently arrested and taken to a detention center in Marvdasht. According to an Iran International report, magistrate Khademi severely assaulted and battered Mehdi Fathi. The agents had previously gone to his house several times to arrest him, which had triggered his wife’s asthma attack. Mr. Fathi is suffering from heart disease and had recently received an angiogram. According to his medical documents, his doctor had prescribed “house rest”. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='37473'> <reference source='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S69UwFG5p9c'> He was transferred to Adel Abad detention center in Shiraz. Ina phone call to his family he said he was tortured to a point that he has seen blood in his urine. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='37474'> According to IPA sources, he went on hunger strike in protest of the lack of sufficient medical treatment and limited contact with family. The exact date of his hunger strike is not specified. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='37478'> <reference source='https://prisonatlas.com/%D9%85%D9%87%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%AD%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%BA%D8%B0%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%AF-%D9%BE%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%9B/'> Mehdi Fathi ended his hunger strike. Authorities told his family to bring the bail money to court on Saturday. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='38061'> <reference source='https://t.me/kasenfi/18192'> He was released on bail after 113 days in solitary confinement in Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='39047'> <reference source='https://t.me/kashowra/9025'> The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Unions reported that the revolutionary court of Shiraz has sentenced Mehdi Fathi to 12 years in prison, two years exile to Garmsar, and two years ban from leaving the country. He received five years in prison for the charge of assembly and conspiracy to disrupt national security, one year for propaganda against the state, and two years in prison for insulting the founder and the current leader of the state. The IPA does not have access to more information on the other charges that bring up his sentence to 12 years in prison. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='39046'> <reference source='https://t.me/kashowra/9558'> The appeal court of Fars province sentenced Mehdi Fathi to five years in prison for assembly and conspiracy to disrupt national security, one year for propaganda against the state, and two years in prison for insulting the leader. (Article 134: five years enforceable). The court also confirmed his two-year exile and ban from leaving the country. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='39799'> <reference source='https://t.me/kasenfi/21949'> According to the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Unions, Mehdi Fathi was arrested at his house in Kord Shol village of Pasargadae. Sources say he was transferred to Adel Abad prison. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='41508'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2022/hranews/a-36640/'> HRANA reported that Mr. Fathi is currently incarcerated in ward 14 of Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz. He is suffering from heart disease and recently his salary was cut off. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='42177'> <reference source='https://t.me/kashowra/12483'> In a note, he announced his forced retirement. In a part of this note, which was published by the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers' Union Organizations, while referring to his 28 years of teaching in deprived areas of the country, he expressed regret for the decision of the officials of the Ministry of Education. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='42086'> <reference source='https://cutt.ly/DVhgrmq'> By publishing an open letter addressed to his wife, Mehdi Fathi announced his decision to go on a dry hunger strike. In Mr. Fathi's letter, which was published on the Iranwire website, this imprisoned teacher stated that the reason for his hunger strike was to protest against numerous prison sentences, his forced retirement, and his detention in the security ward of Adel Abad prison in Shiraz. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49773'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2023/hranews/a-40338/'> HRANA reported that despite suffering from heart failure and high blood pressure, he was deprived of proper medical treatment and medical leave. HRANA also quoted a source and added: > Despite the previous promise to send this prisoner on leave, recently, in the last moments of sending him, the prison authorities, prevented it for unknown reasons. Also, during the last few weeks, Mr. Fathi has been able to make phone calls with his family in a very limited way. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='50808'> <reference source='https://t.me/kashowra/16349'> Mehdi Fathi, mentioning the name of Abolhasan Khanali, a teacher who was shot dead in 1961 in a protest gathering of the teachers union in Baharestan Square, wrote in a message from Adel Abad Shiraz prison on the occasion of Teacher's Week: > Only a brave teacher can train brave students who make strong and decisive demands in social crises. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='53265'> <reference source='https://t.me/kashowra/16976'> In the green ward of Adel Abad prison, he was severely beaten by the defendants in the "Attack on Shahcheragh" case, in such a way that his nose was broken and he received twelve stitches. While announcing this news, the channel of the Coordinating Council wrote that Mehdi Fathi's neck and back were seriously injured due to the blows inflicted by the "Qur'anic sword". According to this report, Mr. Fathi was transferred to another ward of Adel Abad prison to "save his life". The Coordinating Council also wrote that the four defendants in the Shahcheragh case have threatened to kill political prisoners in Darband in Adel Abad prison, including Mr. Fathi, and "have repeatedly said that "spilling your blood is lawful for us." The Coordinating Council has also suggested that because Mr. Fathi has not agreed to write a "repentance letter", the prison authorities intend to harass him in this way. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='53266'> <reference source='https://t.me/kashowra/16988'> Bushehr Province Teachers Trade Union published a statement condemning the attack of several prisoners on Mehdi Fathi in Adel Abad Shiraz prison. This trade union called for the imprudence of the prison authorities to cause such a "disaster", and demanded the immediate release of Mehdi Fathi to follow the treatment process outside the prison. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='53267'> <reference source='https://t.me/kashowra/17316'> Mehdi Fathi, in the second year of serving his prison sentence, sent out a message on the occasion of his son's birthday. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='53268'> <reference source='https://t.me/kashowra/17833'> Mehdi Fathi announced in a letter that was published a few days later on the channel of the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Organizations of Iran: > In protest against the atrocities and oppression that have been inflicted on me and my family during these years of prison, I have started a medicine strike since Tuesday, and if my legal demands are not met within three days, I will go on a hunger strike from Saturday, September 22, 2023. In this letter, Mr. Fathi stated about his poor conditions in prison: > Today, I am an innocent in prison and at the same time in chains with seven or eight ISIS members who are armed with Quranic verses and all kinds of sharp objects, and I have to fight. I have many wounds. Today, if I am displaced from ward to ward every day without considering the regulations on the segregation of convicted crimes, and I'm taken to the courts, prosecutors' offices, and forensic medicine, with chains on my hands and feet, I see countless humiliations and insults, it is only because I have shouted about the injustice, corruption and theft that I have seen. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='53269'> <reference source='https://t.me/kashowra/17848'> Following Mehdi Fathi's hunger strike, the authorities of Adel Abad prison promised him that in the coming days, his condition would change and he would spend the rest of his imprisonment with an electronic ankle bracelet. While announcing this news, the channel of the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Organizations of Iran wrote that Mr. Fathi ended his hunger strike by accepting the requests of the union activists and to allay the concerns of the teachers' community. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='54165'> <reference source='https://t.me/kashowra/18310'> According to the channel of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers' Organizations, he was released from prison with an electronic ankle bracelet. According to this report, Mr. Fathi will spend the rest of his imprisonment at home. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>