Reza Akbari Monfared

Reza Akbari Monfard was a political prisoner in the 1980s as well. Four of his brothers and sisters were executed at the same time. Mr. Akbari Monfard and other members of his family were also arrested and sentenced to long-term prison terms after the protests of 2009.

• <coverage-outsourcing id='4570'> He was arrested on the charge of "Supporting the People's Mujahedin of Iran" for the first time and was incarcerated in Ghezel Hesar and Evin Prisons for 19 months. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8418'> His brother, Ali Reza Akbari Monfared was executed. In a letter to the president of France, Reza Akbari Monfared wrote: > They executed my brother Ali Reza without any trial or opportunity for a defense </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8419'> His brother, Gholam Reza Akbari Monfared, was executed by firing squad in 1984 or 1985. In his letter to the French President, Reza Akbari Monfared wrote: "They suddenly executed my other brother, Gholam Reza; even though he had spent 2 years in prison </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='4571'> He was arrested alongside his family on the charge of "Illegal crossing of the Pakistani border". He was held in Zahedan Prison for 15 days. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8420'> His other brother and sister, Roghieh and Abdolreza Akbari Monfared (who was 17 at the time of his arrest) were executed after spending their three-year prison sentence and four extra years in prison without a sentence. In a letter to François Hollande, Reza Akbari Monfared wrote that they were "executed for the crime of supporting Mujahedin and selling newspapers." He affirms that the family was not allowed to visit their graves and security forces would often arrest people who would come to offer condolences. His mother was arrested and incarcerated for several months </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8421'> He was arrested and incarcerated for 10 days in Ward 209 of Evin prison by the Ministry of Intelligence for the charge of supporting the Mujahedin Khalgh </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8422'> His sister, Maryam Akbari Monfared, was arrested </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='4568'> He was arrested in his residence alongside his cousin, Ali Akbari Monfared. He was held in solitary confinement in Ward 209 and 240 of Evin Prison for eight months before being transferred to Ward 350. He was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison on charges of "Assembly and collusion against national security" and "Relations with the People's Mujahedin of Iran via phone calls". </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8424'> According to Harana, Gholam Reza Khosravi, Ali Moezzi, Hani Yazerlo, Majid Assadi, Hamid Reza Borhani, Reza Akbari Monfared, Asadollah Asadi, Mohamad Heidari, and Mohamad Sajad Asadi, published a letter in objection to the banishment of Abdolreza Ghanbari and Mohamad Nasiri (Kourosh Nasiri) from Evin Prison to Borazjan Prison </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8425'> According to Harana, in protest to lack of medical treatment for political and ideological prisoners, enforcement of prison uniform, banishment of political and ideological prisoners, and in solidarity with Darvish prisoners and also in protest to the abuse and mistreatment of the families of Darvish and political and ideological prisoners, Gholam Reza Khosravi, Asghar Ghatan, Asadollah Hadi, Reza Akbari Monfared, Abolghasem Fouladvand, Ali Salanpour, and Mostafa Abdi refused to go to visitation hall </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='4567'> He was subjected to beatings during the attack of security forces on Ward 350, and later transferred to solitary confinement in Ward 240. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8433'> According to "Nafas Dar Ghafas" he was returned to Ward 350 </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='4566'> It was reported that he had been barred from having weekly visits with his family. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='4565'> He was exiled to Rajaee Shahr Prison along with a number of other prisoners from Ward 350 of Evin Prison. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='4569'> It was reported that he began a hunger strike in solidarity and support for the victims of the acid attacks. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8429'> According to "Peace Activists in Exile Campaign", six political prisoners of Hall 12 of Rajayi Shahr Prison in Karaj were sent to visit their family members who were also incarcerated in Evin Prison for political and ideological reasons. According to this report, Kamran Rahmian, Shahab Dehghan, Adel Naimi, Sarang Etehadi, Reza Akbari Monfared, and Shamim Naimi, were sent to Evin Prison to visit Faran Hesami, Shamis Mohajer, Elham Farahani, Nasim Ashrafi, and Maryam Akbari Monfared </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8430'> According to Harana, for the last two weeks, Saeed Masouri, Abolghasem Fouladvand, Ali Salanpour, Reza Akbari Monfared, Shahin Zoghitabar, Saleh Kohandel, Latif Hassani, Amir Ghaziani, and Saeed Shirzad have refused to go to visitation in protest to the three previous inspections done on visitation days. According to the report, these uncommon inspections are ordered by Mr. Mardani, the warden of Rajayi Shahr Prison </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8431'> Before Hassan Rouhani's visit to France, Reza Akbari Monfared wrote a letter to François Hollande and described the hardship that his family and he had suffered; and mentioned that he is "surprised" by this "legitimizing" meeting (of the French President) with someone (Rouhani) who during "the years of massacre" was among "the main culprits" and has been "the chairman of the supreme national security council for a decade" </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8434'> In a letter to the Pope he strongly criticized Rouhani's visit of Vatican </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='7803'> In a letter to United Nations' secretary general and the Human Rights Council, Saeed Masoury, Reza Akbari Monfared, Hassan Sadeghi, Shahin Zoghi, Mohamad Akramipour, Amir Ghaziani, Abolghasem Fouladvand, and Saeed Shirzad announced that they will go on a hunger strike in order to raise awareness to the terrible conditions of other prisoners, and in solidarity with Saleh Kohandel, Pirooz Mansoori, and Afshin Baymani, who were moved to solitary confinement after their objection to the execution of Sunni prisoners of conscience </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8435'> After the publication of Ayatollah Montazeri's recorded audio and the note written by Mostafa Tajzadeh, he wrote a critical letter to Mostafa Tajzadeh </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='8695'> In an open letter sent from ward 4 of Rajayishahr prison in Karaj, he objected to Mr. Pourmohamadi's comments regarding the 1988 executions </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='9679'> He along with several other political and ideological prisoners once again was denied their once a month visitation. Harana reports that Mr. Mardani, warden of Rajayi Shahr prison in Karaj, had asked Hassan Sadeghi, Reza Akbari Monfared, Adel and Shamim Naimi, and Paymon Kooshk Baghi to wear prison uniforms and wear handcuffs and shackles in order to visit Fatemeh Mosanna, Maryam Akbari Monfared, Elham Farahani, and Azita Rafi Zadeh who were incarceaed in Evin prison. But the prisoners refused </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='10202'> In a letter to the U.N Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Reza Akbari Monfared objected to the fact that Maryam Akbari Monfared was denied visitation due to her lawsuit. This letter was published by "No to Prison, No to Execution", and is documented in the Supporting Evidence section of this page. Later it was revealed that at the time of the writing of this letter, Maryam Akbari Monfared's visitation with her brother was denied but she was still allowed visitation with he family. In a previous letter, Reza Akbari Monfared had said that the mandate on political prisoners for wearing prison uniform and wearing handcuffs and shackles during visitation, is a "trick" by the regime which practically denies political prisoners their visitation </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='10112'> Twelve prisoners of ward 4 in hall 12 of Rajayi Shahr prison in Karaj announced their support of Maryam Akbari Monfared's lawsuit and demand for justice. This letter was published by Campaign to Defend Civil and Political Activists in Iran, and is documented in the Supporting Evidence section of this page. The signatories are as follows: Reza Akbari Monfared, Saeed Shirzad, Mohamad Ali Mansouri, Behnam Mousivand, Saleh Kohandel, Saeed Masouri, Javad Fouladvand, Hassan Sdeghi, Shahin Zoghitabar, Ali Moezzi, Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, and Khaled Hardani </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='10385'> In a letter to workers, teachers, and students, a group of Rajayi Shahr prisoners supported their protests. The signatories were as follows: Abolghasem Fouladvand, Reza Akbarri Monfared, Saeed Masouri, Mohamad Ali Mansouri, Saleh Kohandel, Ali Moezzi, Hassan Sadeghi, Shahin Zoghitabar, Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, Jaber Abedini, Ebrahim Firouzi, and Khaled Hardani. According to Hesar News reports, a few days later, the same prisoners - except Jabe Abedini - along with Arzhang Davoudi, signed another letter in support of a conference in Paris and called it a conference to "empower the movement for demanding justice". Some of the signatories published other solo or group letters later on </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='10565'> Harana reported that once again the Rajayi Shahr's political and ideological prisoners have been denied visitation of their family members who are imprisoned in Evin </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='12030'> In a letter to Asma Jahangir, he and 19 other prisoners of Rajayi Shahr expressed their concerns about Saeed Shirzad's conditions. The letter is documented in the Supporting Evidence section of Saeed Shirzad's page </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='19460'> After the collective transfer of the political and ideological/religious prisoners of Rajaei Shahr prison to a new ward, a number of them began a hunger strike.This widespread hunger strike led to the prison guards and staff’s mistreatment of prisoners’ families, threatening of prisoners, putting prisoners in solitary confinement and withholding medical treatment and medicines. The collective protest was met with the media reaction of the judiciary, and the support of human rights organizations and some of the civil and political activists. Because some of the prisoner terminated their strike sooner and some of them were, also, transferred to solitary cells, the list of names changed during the period of the hunger strike, but in general, the names of prisoners who partook in the hunger strike, whose names have been confirmed by verified lists, are as follows: Majid Asadi, Jafar Eghdami, Saeed Shirzad, Saeed Masouri, Shahin Zoghitabar, Reza Akbari Monfared, Abolghasem Fouladvand, Hasan Sadeghi, Reza Shahabi, Mohammad Nazari, Payam Shakiba, Mohammad Banazadeh Amirkhizi, Mohammal Ali Mansouri, Ebrahim Firouzi, Amir Ghaziani, Vahid Sayad Nasiri, Hamid Babaei, Zanyar Moradi, Loghman Moradi, Houshang Rezaei and Saeed Pourheydar. Among them Saeed Shirzad, Reza Shahabi, and Mohammad Nazari’s hunger strike lasted longer than 50 days.The last two, had continued their hunger strike in protest to the situation of their own cases </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='18292'> An informed source told Iran Prison Atlas that after the political prisoners were transferred from Hall 14 Ward 4 to Hall 10 of the same ward and they refused to eat in response, some continued their hunger strike: Saeed Masouri, Jafar Eghdami, Abolghassem Fouladvand, Reza Akbari Monfared, Hassan Sadeghi Khoramdashti and Amir Ghaziyani where transferred to solitary cells, and in the ward’s hall, some prisoners on strike, as well, including, Mohammad Banazadeh Amirkhizi and Mohammad Ali Mansouri </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='18992'> HRANA published Reza Akbari Monfared's letter addressed to the UN’s special rapporteur for human rights. In this letter, he wrote, the prison functionaries, especially, Mr. Mostafa Mohebi, the chief managing director of Tehran province prisons , is seeking “revenge and retribution” from the political prisoner of Rajai Shahr prison who participated in the collective hunger strike, and for this reason he provided no medical assistance during or after the hunger strike. This letter can be found in the evidence section of this page </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='19693'> According to Justice for Iran, the UN Working Group for Enforced Disappearance in a letter addressed to the government of Iran, requesting information about the fate of Roghieh and Abdolreza Akbari Monfared and their place of burial </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='20419'> HRANA in its reports, wrote of the developments after the transfer of political prisoners to the 10th hall of ward 10 and that Mostafa Mohebbi (head of the Tehran prisons organization), Mohammad Mardani (the head of the prison), Mostafa Ziaei (current prison director), Kohandani (supervisor judge of the prison) And Sigaroudi (prison’s judicial deputy) have been involved in various transitions and subsequent catastrophes. According to current and former chiefs, restrictions have been imposed with Mostafa Mohebbi's orders and supervision. According to the report, most of the political prisoners’ belongings were not returned to them, and some of them were sold in other prisons; heating facilities, ventilation and hot water do not work properly, and prisoners have to heat the kettle for bathing. The prison authorities detached the Baha'i prisoners from the others and isolated them in the hall of the hall 11. On the orders of Mohammad Mardani and in collaboration with Mr. Kohandani and Mr. Sigaroudi, cases have been opened for Saeed Massouri, Reza Akbarimonfard, Saeed Shirzad, Hassan Sadeghi, Amir Ghaziani, Jafar Eghdami, Abolghasem Fouladvand and Ebrahim Firoozi, eight prisoners who were transferred to the solitary confinement during their hunger strike, with allegations of "insulting the leadership, shouting slogans against officials and disturbing the prison’s order." Shortly afterwards, Saeed Pourheidar, Saeed Shirzad, Amir Ghaziani and Ebrahim Firoozi were also accused of "destroying public property". Access to the store and open space is also limited, prisoners are abused and mistreated by the prison authorities when getting transferred to the hospital or court, and that the political prisoners do not have access to newspaper and there is only one TV in the hall </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='51259'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/bank/reza-akbari-monfared/'> According to HRANA, he was released from Gohardasht prison (Rajai Shahr, Karaj). According to this report, his accusation regarding the sentence of five years and six months of imprisonment is for Moharebeh (waging war against Islam) through supporting the MKO. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='51212'> <reference source='https://t.me/LaVoixDesPrisonniers/2427'> He was arrested in Tehran. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='51213'> <reference source='https://t.me/LaVoixDesPrisonniers/2427'> After two months of solitary confinement and interrogation, he was transferred from Ward 209 to Ward 4 of Evin Prison. Dadkhahan Darband reported that his case has been referred to Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='52292'> <reference source='https://t.me/iranhrs98/46587'> According to the Iranian Human Rights Center, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Iman Afshari, sentenced him to five years in prison for the charge of assembly and collusion. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>