Mohammad Sedigh Kaboudvand

In 1996 he established "Unity for Democracy in Iran," and later "Payam-e Mardom" weekly in Kurdistan. He then established "Kurdistan Human Rights Organization," which aimed to defend the rights of Kurdish people of Iran. He received Human Rights Watch's Hellman Hammett Award in 2009

<coverage-outsourcing id='6421'> He and a number of Iranian activists founded the United for Democracy in Iran organization. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6428'> The defendant penned a few books during these years. These books were never permitted to be published and were confiscated in subsequent arrests. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6422'> He was arrested as a result of complaints filed against the "Payame Mardom" publication by security forces. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6423'> The Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan, which the defendant was a director for, announced their presence. The Intelligence Ministry famously issued a statement regarding this organization to the judiciary: > The Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan has journalists, lookouts, and active members from Maku, in the northernmost areas where Kurds live, all the way down south to Ilam. It is so that if a clay pot falls from the hands of a Kurdish woman in a far away village, this organization will receive that news . </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6429'> He was tried in Branch 1 of Sanandaj Revolutionary Court and sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence and a five-year ban on journalistic activity or managing a publication. His suspended prison sentence was converted to an actual sentence in Appeals Court. This case was later transferred to the Supreme Court. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6424'> The "Iranian Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff" filed a complaint against the defendant to the Press Court on the charge of "Propagating against the system" via the "Ensaniat" website, which is a part of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan organization. This trial was held in 2006. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6430'> The case for the Payame Mardom publication was reviewed in the Supreme Court with Shirin Ebadi, Nasrin Sotoudeh, and Mohammad Safavi as attorneys. The defendant's sentence was reduced from one year to six months and the complete dissolution of the publication was reduced to a three-year ban on activities. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='1214'> He was arrested by security forces in Tehran and transferred to solitary confinement in Evin Prison. He was put under extreme physical and emotional pressure by security officials to dissolve "the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan" and to agree to "publish incorrect reports" on behalf of this organization. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='1217'> He was held in solitary confinement in Ward 209 and 240 of Evin Prison and finally transferred to Ward 350 </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6425'> The Mahabad Intelligence Ministry office filed a complaint against the defendant on the charge of "Propagating against the system" due to his publishing a booklet about the conditions of women in Kurdistan in 2008. A trial was held in the summer of 2008 and the defendant was exonerated from this charge. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='1215'> His trial was held privately and was presided by Judge Salavati. The defendant was sentenced to one and 10 years in prison on charges of "Propagating against the system" and "Illegally founding the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan", respectively. His defense with regards to the charge of founding an illegal group was that the establishment of this organization was protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party and as such, there was no need to obtain a permit from the government. The defendant claimed that providing the government with the organization's information and members should satisfy the government. He was later exonerated of the "propagating against the system" charge but his 10 year prison sentence was upheld </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='1216'> Nasrin Sotoudeh, his attorney, informed BBC Persian that his six year sentence had been upheld </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='1222'> He received Human Rights Watch's Hellman Hammett Award in 2009 for his human rights activities </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6431'> The British Press Awards named the defendant as their International Journalist of the Year. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='1218'> The defendant's family issued a statement describing the severe conditions of his incarceration and the possibility of his having a strike. He also penned a letter to the Tehran Province Prosecutor describing his physical condition and requesting transfer to a medical center </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='1219'> He was suffering from severe physical ailments again. But he was not granted medical leave from the prison </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='1220'> He requested furlough to visit his ailing son but his request was denied. As a result, he began a hunger strike. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='1221'> He ended his hunger strike after 58 days. According to tests conducted by prison medical staff he was suffering from kidney infections, low blood sugar, extreme weight loss, and physical fatigue. He was subsequently transferred to hospital </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6435'> He was returned to Ward 350. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='9571'> He was battered on the Black Thursday of Ward 350 of Evin Prison </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6434'> He was beaten and transferred to solitary confinement in Evin Prison on "Black Thursday". </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6427'> After a lengthy hunger strike, he was allowed furlough for a few days. He spent this time visiting with his son, who has cancer. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6426'> Parinaz Baghbani Hassani, the wife of Mohammad Sedigh Kaboudvand, was interviewed by HRANA in the summer of 2015 in which she claimed that the only services her husband receives are painkillers from the prison medical center. These pills have allowed him to endure the pain of his condition. She added : > They have been consistently hard on him, so much that they never reduced his sentence based on Clause 134 of the Islamic Penal Code (Consolidation Clause), which is regularly used to reduce inmates' sentence . </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='4553'> His request for conditional release was rejected or a second time. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='5464'> It was reported that his physical condition is very severe in Ward 350. Despite having issues with his kidneys, intestines, blood pressure, and having had two heart attacks in prison, the judiciary continues to block his privileges to be transferred to a hospital. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='5941'> John Kirby, Spokesman for the US State Department, requested the defendant's release. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='5985'> He began a hunger strike in protest of the charges against him and the pressure exerted on him by security forces. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6647'> According to HRANA, he was transferred to Taleghani Hospital as his condition worsened due to his hunger strike. The Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan reported that the defendant refused to receive any treatment or medicine in the hospital as was returned to prison after 12 hours. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6181'> The Reporters Without Borders Organization expressed their concern about Mohammad Sedigh Kaboudvand and Ehsan Mazandarani's situation. This organization cited the "lack of transparency and malice of the judicial system" in the lack of medical attention to the defendant. Reporters Without Borders also expressed concern regarding the case of Maliheh Hosseini, Ehsan Mazandarani's wife, who disappeared while incarcerated in Evin Prison. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6432'> His was tried on the charge of "Propagating against the system" by Judge Moghiseh and without an attorney present. This occurred while he was on a hunger strike in protest of the case against him. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6433'> A group of Twitter users caused a Twitter Storm in support of the defendant. According to Iran Wire, these tweets were viewed at least 41 million times. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6292'> A group of political and social activists asked that he end his hunger strike and be released. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6447'> It was reported that on the 25th day of his hunger strike, physicians are concerned that he might fall into cardiac arrest due to the low levels of Potassium in his blood. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6632'> It was reported that despite his severe physical condition he was transferred back to prison from the hospital </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6762'> It was reported that a group of social activists from Kurdistan penned a letter to the President in which they expressed their concern over the defendant's conditions in prison and asked for his case to be reviewed and that he be set free. </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='10223'> The nine remaining prisoners in Ward 350 of Evin Prison objected to the ward's isolated environment and the transfer of political prisoners. The letter states that Ward 350 has not had any new entry since the spring of 2014, for a long time there have been only 9 prisoners in this Ward, and "are experiencing conditions more difficult than solitary". Constant hunger strikes of political prisoners in other wards and prisons indicate the futility of separating political prisoners, and separating political prisoners from each other is in fact an "indirect torture". The signatories are: Akbar Amini, Yashar Darolshafa, Ahmad Daneshpour, Mohsen Daneshpour, Ali Zahed, Abdolfattah Soltani, Hassan Sisakhti, Sohail Arabi, and Mohammad Sedigh Kaboudvand. The letter was published by Harana, and it is documented in the Supporting Evidence section of Ward 350's page in Atlas </coverage-outsourcing>