Heshmatollah Tabarzadi

Hešmatollāh is Iranian engineer, Journalist, and the Secretary General of the Democratic Front of Iran currently in prison under charges including "Waging War against God".

<coverage-outsourcing id='6070'> He cofounded the Students and Graduates Union </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6043'> Payam Daneshjoo magazine, which he was one of its managers, exposed a group of Islamic Republic authorities for a series of corruptions. Some of these cases led to criminal investigations and brought heavy sentences of life in prison and death for the accused </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6068'> He was arrested and interrogated twice in 1995 and 1996 for a few hours by the Intelligence ministry </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6067'> According to his interview with an Iraqi Kurdistan magazine, the Press Court sentenced him to pay one million tomans in cash fines (instead of one year in prison) and five years ban from publishing Payam Daneshjoo </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6055'> He was arrested and transferred to Evin Prison by the order of judge Mortazavi. He was detained for one week. Payam Danshjoo magazine was also closed by judge Mortazavi </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6061'> He was summoned by the security branch of the Revolutionary Court and was later sentenced to one year suspended prison </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6059'> He was battered during the assault on Payam Daneshjoo newspaper by individuals referred to as the "pressure group" at the time </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6071'> The Students and Graduates Union and a few other student groups formed the United Student Front </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6035'> He was arrested and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison while he was summoned to the revolutionary court to testify in the case of "Hoviat Khish" magazine. Despite the effect of the events of July 9th of 2001 in his case, he was arrested a few weeks prior to that. These cases were later sent to Branch 26 of the revolutionary court. "Hoviat Khish" weekly magazine was shut down at the same time with the arrest </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6062'> On the Nowruz of 1999, the Islamic Union of Students and Graduates of which he was a member issued a statement announcing that the future political structure of Iran must be a free and democratic republic </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6036'> He was transferred to Tohid lockup. He was detained there for 110 days in solitary. He wrote about this in a letter addressed to Ayatollah Khamenei titled "Ali did not have any torture chambers" and said that during his time in Tohid lockup, he constantly heard the voices of students being tortured </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6037'> He was returned to Ward 209 in Evin Prison from Tohid lockup </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6039'> He was summoned to Branch 26 of Tehran revolutionary court by judge Haddad and got arrested. This arrest in Ward 209 of Evin Prison lasted three months. Finally, his one year in prison sentence was changed to one million tomans in cash fines by the appeal court </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6038'> According to him, in the Summer of 2000, Mr. Younesi, the Intelligence minister of the time visited him in one of the solitary cells of Ward 209 in Evin Prison and asked him to provide evidence of torture in Tohid detention centre </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6072'> He cofounded Iran Democratic Front </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6040'> He was arrested on April 15th or 16th at the office of Iran Democratic Front. He was kept in Revolutionary Guard's 59 Eshrat Abad lock up for eleven months. At first, he was told that he has been arrested for his previous case, and the one-year prison sentence from the previous case is being enforced, but that court was in the middle of the appeal process and was later changed to cash fine. Later he was told that he was arrested for writing the letter titled "Imam Ali didn't have any torture chambers" </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6044'> After refusing to put up his bail and instead going on hunger strike in protest to the actions of the Judiciary and security agencies, he was released from Eshrat Abad lockup without paying his bail </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6056'> Security agents entered his house and arrested two of his children </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6041'> He was arrested by the order of Judge Moghaddasi. He was kept in solitary cells of revolutionary guard's Ward 2-A for eight and a half months </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6045'> He was released </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6042'> After three months since his release from Revolutionary Guard's Ward 2-A and during the protests on the anniversary of July 9th, he got arrested once again and transferred to Ward 209 in Evin Prison. According to his letter to his attorneys, in July 2003, the revolutionary court informed him that this arrest was related to the previous arrest. He went on a hunger strike in Ward 209 and got transferred to Ward 350 </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6057'> Two of his children (Mohammad and Ali Tabarzadi) were arrested and detained in Ward 209 of Evin Prison for 25 days </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6046'> His trial was held in absentia with two defense attorneys and judge Haddad. The court verdict says: > In accordance with article 47 of Islamic Code of Punishment and based on article 498 of Islamic Code of Punishment, the court sentences the defendant to 10 years in prison for founding of the Union group and the Democratic Front and other similar groups which were only formed with the goal of undermining the national security, and in accordance with article 500 of the aforementioned law, for the crime of propaganda against the regime the court sentences him to one year in prison and two years in prison in accordance with article 514 for insulting the supreme leader repeatedly, and also for causing public disorder and panic to one year in prison in accordance with article 698 of the aforementioned law. The court has also decided that the defendant will be denied of all his social rights for ten years in accordance with article 19 of the Islamic code of punishment. Also, considering the defendant's situation, he will spend the term of his sentence in one of the cities in the southern areas of the country. Naturally, the defendant's prior time in lockup will be considered as time served </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6047'> He published his defense statement from Ward 350 in Evin Prison. It was titled "Defense of Liberty" and addressed public opinion. United for Iran has gathered many of its information on Mr. Tabarzadi from this statement and statements similar to it </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6063'> Judge Haddad reviewed the case of the Students and Graduates Union that was referred to him by judge Mortazavi, and ordered the dissolution of this group in absentia </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6065'> He wrote an open letter to Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6069'> He was released from prison at the end of his sentence </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6054'> In a letter to the supreme leader of Iran, he wrote that his wife who is not involved in any political activity has been summoned by the judicial security forces. He goes on to say that he can not bear the persecution of his family members because of his political activities and he will not stand by to witness it. In another part of his letter addressed to the supreme leader, he writes "you know well that the majority of Iranian people are unhappy with your rule but the security forces suppress them... thanks to oil money, you and your government silence any voice of opposition and won't allow people to have free elections or referendums and take control of their own destiny. We also know the principles of democratic resistance and will continue on our path" </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6073'> He was one of the founders of "Solidarity for Democracy and Human Rights". He was the spokesperson for this organization </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6049'> He was arrested and transferred to Ward 240 of Evin prison without an arrest warrant. He was battered from the moment he arrived there. He was kept in a solitary cell in this Ward for 40 days </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6050'> He was transferred to Ward 209 for 61 days. Later he was sent to Ward 350 of Evin Prison for a while </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6051'> He was transferred to Kachuyi Prison </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6052'> He was transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6053'> In his last trial session in Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court, he defended himself along with his three defense attorneys, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, Gity Pour Fazel, and Jahangir Mahmoudi. The court sentenced him to one year in prison for "acts against national security", two years for "insulting the supreme leader", and one year and 74 lashes for "disrupting public order through participation in assemblies with the intent of destroying public property", and five years for "assembly and conspiracy to act against national security", meaning overall he was sentenced to nine years in prison and 74 lashes and exile. This sentence was reduced by the appeal court to eight years in prison </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6058'> Iran Democratic Front condemned his sentence to prison and lashes </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6074'> He went on a hunger strike along with several other political prisoners in protest to the conditions of the prison </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6393'> Kayvan Samimi, Issa Saharkhiz, Massoud Bastani, Ali Ajami, Jafar Eghdami, and Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, six political prisoners in Rajaei Shahr Prison announced that, as long as their friends in Ward 350 of Evin Prison are on hunger strike, they will be on hunger strike as well in solidarity </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6064'> He published a memoir from Hall 12 of Rajaei Shahr Prison, writing: "I'm only paying the price for expressing my opinions, publishing newspapers, forming unions and political parties, and inviting people to peaceful gatherings and demonstrations to defend justice and liberty and democracy and secularism and human rights </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6060'> He published a letter in 11 clauses to his lawyers in which he accused the supreme leader of Iran of committing crimes </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='13288'> After the assault on Ward 350 (The Black Friday of Ward 350), Rassoul Badaghi, Hamidreza Borhani, Mohammad Bannazadeh Amirkhizi, Khaled Hardani, Afshin Heiratian, Batirshah Mohammadof, Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, Saleh Kohandel, Saeed Massouri, Mohammad Ali Mansouri, Missagh Yazdannejad, and Nasseh Yousefi went on hunger strike in support of Ward 350 prisoners and in sympathy with their families </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6075'> He was released from Rajaei Shahr Prison </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='7400'> According to Harana, he refused to accept the court summon </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6034'> According to sources close to him, he got arrested and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison while he had left home to meet with Dr. Mohammad Maleki </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='7401'> He was transferred to Moghaddas court in Evin </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6263'> It was reported that he went on hunger strike </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='6889'> Harana News Agency reported that he is still incarcerated in Evin Prison and is scheduled to go on trial soon </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='7399'> He was temporarily released by producing his 200 million toman bail </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='8675'> His trial session was held under judge Ahmadzadeh. In protest to the illegal procedures in the trials of political defendants and violation of many global principles of Human Rights, Mr.Tabarzadi remained silent for the duration of the trial </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='18859'> Judge Ahmadzadeh sentenced him to five years in prison for "acts against national security" and one year in prison for "propaganda against the regime" </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='25934'> Nasrin Sotoodeh, Shirin Ebadi, Narges Mohammadi, Payam Akhavan, Jafar Panahi, Mohsen Sazgara, Mohammad Seyfzade, Hasan Shariatmadari, Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, Abolfazl Qadiani, Mohsen Kadivar, Kazem Kardavani, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Mohammad Maleki and Mohammad Noorizad issued an appeal that called for peaceful transition from the Islamic Republic toward a parliamentary secular democracy based on free vote of the people, full observation of human rights and lifting of all discrimination especially full equality for women, ethnicities and religions in all cultural, social, political and economic fields. According to the undersigned “forty years of experience shows that the Islamic Republic of Iran can’t be reformed” </coverage-outsourcing>