Mohammad Saber Malek Raeisi

He is the son of Molana DaadRahman Malek Raeesi and a resident of Itek Sarbaz village. He was arrested and sentenced to a long prison term when he was just 17. He was detained in solitary lockups of Zahedan Intelligence between the ages of 17 to 19. His family says Mohammad Saber was arrested because of his brother's activities.

• <coverage-outsourcing id='1683'> According to IPA, Mohammad Saber Malek Raeisi was arrested at Ali Ibn Abitaleb Hospital in Chabahar as he was taking care of his younger brother. He was 17 at the time of the arrest. Two of his brothers were arrested with him. His family insists that their arrest was because of the actions of their other brother. Intelligence agents in prison told their parents that if they do not deliver their other son, the three brothers will be executed. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='10055'> According to HRANA, two of his brothers were released on a bail of 70 million tomans after the mediation of the relatives and the elders of the region </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='10056'> His brother, Obeidolrahman Malek Raeesi, published a letter announcing that his younger brother Mohammad Saber was arrested because of him. The letter explains that Obeidolrahman was forced to leave Iran after he received threats from the security forces who wanted him to spy "on the meetings of Sunni clerics and on Baluch people" for them. But he refused to take part in "hostage taking and these illegal anti-human rights crimes". He has asked the human rights activists to fight for the freedom of his younger brother who is spending his teenage years in Intelligence lockup in Zahedan. The letter was published by HRANA, and is documented in the supporting evidence section of this page. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='20468'> According to IPA, he was transferred to Zahedan prison </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='1684'> The judges at the first branch of Sistan and Baluchestan criminal court (Kiani, Taheri, Sa'adatian, Hosseini, and Parhizgar) sentenced Mohammad Saber Malek Raeisi to 15 years in prison in exile and 2 years in prison. The verdict was published by HRANA and it is documented in the Supporting Evidence section of Mohammad Saber Malek Raeisi's profile in IPA </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='10059'> After the riots of May 2012 in the political and security prisoners' ward in Zahedan prison, the prison authorities punished political prisoners in other wards who were not aware of the riot; including Mohammad Saber Malek Raeesi, Mehrollah Rigi, and Ali Pajgol, who were in youth ward. They were severely battered and transferred to solitary cells. Malek Raeesi suffered a head injury (15 stitches) and his nose and leg were broken. His family only found out 19 months after the incident. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='1685'> Exiled from Zahedan Prison probably to Urmia prison and the Ardabil Central Prison. His family was not aware of his conditions for 19 months. They did not know where he was detained and Ardebil Prison had taken away his access to phones </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='12260'> During Ramadan of 2014, the Ardebil Prison authorities pulled the Baluch and Sunni prisoners out of their ward and left them in the hands of Shia fundamentalist prisoners. According to several reports, the Baluch and Sunni prisoners were severely battered and abused. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='1686'> Mohammad Saber Malek Raeesi was beaten by other inmates in Ardabil Prison. Many believe that the inmates were instigated by the prison guards. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='4151'> According to Baluch Activists Campaign, in protest to their very limited access to phones (ten minutes every three months), difficult conditions for visitations, and being denied access to sports facilities in prison, Saber Malek Raeesi, Ali Pajgol, Nour Ahmad Hassanzehi, Es'hagh Kalkali, and Mohammad Amin Iranshahri went on hunger strike </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='10054'> In an investigation panel, Stephen Green, Canadian senator from Halifax, demanded his freedom </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='12395'> He released another recorded audio message addressing Asma Jahangir, in which he explained some aspects of his case and asked for her intervention. This audio file was published by HRANA and it is documented in the supporting evidence section of this page along with its transcript. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='11522'> After Mohammad Saber Malek Raeesi's objection to the cold water in the shower and lack of facilities for prisoners in Ardebil Prison, the prison guards assaulted and battered him again. Some media outlets have identified Mr. Norouzi (Prison's internal director) and Mr. Javadi (Head of prison security) as the perpetrators of this event. In protest to this abuse, Mohammad Saber Malek Raeesi started his hunger strike on this day. IPA confirms the battery, but can not directly confirm the identity of the culprits. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='11679'> In a letter addressed to Hassan Rouhani, Mohammad Saber Malek Raeesi explained his case and asked for his help in ensuring that he and other prisoners like him were treated like ordinary prisoners. He wrote that he is being referred to as "a traitor" in prison and that his letters are not being posted. He explained that he is being regularly interrogated and refused hospital transfers as a form of punishment. Because of his "objection to the behavior of a prison authority," they tied him to a pole and left him outside overnight in winter when the ground was covered in snow, to the point that "due to the freezing cold he begged God for death many times". After that, they transferred him to quarantine where he had "no choice" but to go on hunger strike. He wrote that "I did not decide to write this letter just because I was convicted unfairly, I believe I have caused my parents pain many times, so maybe I do deserve punishment, but... I decided to write this letter to tell you that those of us who are imprisoned as enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran's regime, are being battered and tortured by the prison guards or the same authorities..." </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='11710'> His brother, Abdolrahman Malek Raeesi, wrote a letter addressing "anyone with a conscience", and "anyone regardless of their religion, sect, or ethnicity, who believe and have faith in the common principle among all humans", and asked them to think about his brother's conditions and help him and other ideological prisoners. The letter is documented in the Supporting Evidence section of this page </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='11943'> According to HRANA, due to Mohammad Saber Malek Raeesi's refusal to break his hunger strike and his determination in following up on his lawsuit against the prison authorities, the prison's head of security has "severely battered" him. According to the report, Mr. Malek Raeesi who is still on hunger strike is yet to receive medical treatment even from the prison clinic. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='11952'> According to the Baluch Activists Campaign, the prison authorities have introduced Mohammad Saber Malek Raeesi and other Baluch prisoners as "ISIS members who are killing Shiites in Syria", therefore, they are being assaulted and battered by other prisoners. Also, the prison authorities have denied the request of Baluch prisoners to be transferred to another prison and told them that their imprisonment in Ardebil is what the Zahedan Intelligence has requested. According to the report, the prison authorities have threatened Mohammad Saber that "only your corpse will leave here." The prison's supervising judge told him "if I was the judge, I would've given you the death sentence, sit down and relax, there is not going to be any transfer to hospital or anything like that." The publicization of his hunger strike has allowed him to call home everyday. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='12089'> The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported that he has ended his hunger strike, but the authorities are yet to meet his main demand of being transferred to Chabahar Prison where he will not be harassed or assaulted for being a Sunni. Later reports clarified that he has suspended his hunger strike temporarily and if his demands are not met in a certain amount of time, he will go back on hunger strike </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='12816'> DaadAli Malek Raeesi, the father of Mohammad Saber Malek Raeesi, wrote a letter describing the sufferings of his son and other Sunni prisoners in Ardebil Prison and requested Mohammad Saber's transfer to Chabahar prison. In the letter, he specifically names Karimollah Mahboubi, the previous warden of Ardebil Prison: > He once tortured my son to the brink of death, while his hands and legs were bound, and said you will not leave this prison alive." The letter also mentions Judge Lotfi, the supervising prison judge who told the Sunni prisoners that they are "traitors" and should have been "executed . The complete letter was published by Baluch Activists Campaign, and it is documented in the Supporting Evidence section of this page </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='12259'> HRANA published a recorded audio file of Mohammad Saber Malek Raeesi in which he describes his hardships from the moment of his arrest until now. Malek Raeesi first talked about being tied to the "miracle bed" in Zahedan's Intelligence lockup, and then the "false accusations" and the assault and battery and torture of Sunni prisoners in Zahedan Prison. Mohammad Saber then described the details of exile and the abuse and mistreatment of Sunni prisoners by the authorities of Ardebil Prison. At the end, he asked Asma Jahangir to help these "prisoners condemned to perdition". The audio file and its transcript are documented in the supporting evidence section of this page. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='12664'> He was transferred to hospital for a hemorrhoid examination and then returned to prison. According to HRANA, he was also interrogated for sending two messages to Asma Jahangir. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='13259'> HRANA reported that Nour Ahmad Hassan Zehi, Ali Pazhgol, Abdolkarim Shahbakhsh, Maher Kabi, Mohammad Saber Malek Raeesi, and Shir Ahmad Shirani are being kept in a quarantine-like ward in Ardebil Prison. The ward is a 10 to 15 sqm room with 18 beds and a small yard. The prisoners are allowed to leave the ward for 15 minutes at a time to make phone calls. It is said that the prisoners and their families are treated with so much disrespect that some of them have asked their families not to come for visits. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='13352'> In a letter to the Sunni clerics of Sistan and Baluchestan, Mohammad Saber Malek Raeesi explained his case and the hardship he has gone through and asked for their help to receive justice and have his rights as a prisoner respected. In the letter, he describes some of the "tortures" in Zahedan Intelligence lockup, the indifference of the judges in Zahedan criminal court regarding his claims of torture, violation of rights, religious discrimination, and constant battery in Zahedan and Ardebil prisons. The letter was published by HRANA, and is documented in the supporting evidence section of this page. In another part of the letter, he explains that during his time in Zahedan Intelligence lockup, he was briefed on the members of Rigi group, and was later asked to recite this information. According to Mohammad Saber's letter, this was provided as evidence of his familiarity with the Rigi group and his membership in that group to the court, and the court has not accepted his testimony that he was briefed on them in the Intelligence lockup. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='13783'> His name was on the list of "some of the Baluch prisoners in exile" published by Baluch Activists Campaign </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='14492'> Was transferred from Ardabil prison. According to HRANA, in a phone contact with his family, three days later, he revealed that he had been sent to Evin prison </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='16355'> According to the Baloch Activist Campaign, he continues to be held in Section 209 of Evin Prison </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='24594'> Despite an earlier agreement by the prosecutors, Mr. Malek-Rayis will not be sent to Sistan and Baluchistan prisons and this request is no longer being considered, a source in Zahedan told IPA </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='24595'> According to Iran Prison Atlas, Mohammad Saber Malek-Rayisi — who continues to be held in a separate section from the other political prisoners and has limited contact with his family — has recently spoken to a delegation sent from Tehran. The delegation had gone to Ardabil to asses news about harassment of Sunni prisoners, in particular the recent beating of Mohammad Saber Malek-Rayis. They spoke to the prison staff and then to him and also questioned other witnesses. Mohammad Saber continues to be held among nonpolitical prisoners and the contact between him and other prisoners and their families outside prison has been severely limited. Those behind the harassment of Balooch and Sunni prisoners continue to work in the prison. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='16886'> He was sent back to Ardabil. Mohammad Saber had been transferred to Evin prison for medical treatment, according to IPA. In Evin, he was told that he will be sent back to Chabahar but was instead returned to Ardabil </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='18911'> According to Hrana, after the letter about the hunger strike in support of Rajayi Shahr prisoners was given out, his access to the telephone has been cut </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='19715'> HRANA reported that the prison authorities, despite the doctor’s orders, prevented his transfer to the hospital. According to this report, in the past, prison authorities have changed his ward and extended his time in solitary confinement because he refused to answer the questions of the prison security interrogators. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='20096'> According to HRANA, he suffers from respiratory problems and other physical illnesses and is deprived of medical treatment. According to the report, after his protests against this situation, the prison authorities transferred him to the quarantine ward to punish him. He is still deprived of telephone calls and regular meetings. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='24592'> Mohammad Saber was called by the guardsman. He was then attacked by Parviz Soorazar (an intelligence security staff for Ardabil prison), Farhad Nowroozi (head of the section or internal manager) and Ghafoor Sadeghzadeh (among the guardsmen.) They bound his hands and feet and badly injured him with baton blows. He was then transferred to the quarantine and left there in that state. A source who knows the details spoke to IPA about the subsequent events: “Mohammad Saber was in quarantine. One of the prisoners came towards him a few times and showed that he was clearly looking for a clash. It was obvious that the prison authorities had asked him to get into a fight with Mohammad Saber so that they could later claim that the marks on his body were due to prison fights. Mohammad Saber didn’t react to this prisoner. The prisoner suddenly attacked him and hit him on the head with a flask. Mohammad Saber lost consciousness and was sent to the clinic.” In a letter that was published a few days later, Mohammad Saber addressed Asma Jahangir and said he had gained consciousness in the clinic and didn’t remember anything before. The clinic physician told him that he had committed murder and that he had lost consciousness after killing another prisoner. He was very scared and worried and shortly after realised that no such thing had taken place. The prison authorities wrote a report and asked him to bring charges against the other prisoner. He didn’t accept and said his claims were against Soorazad, Noroozi and Sadeghzade. This is why he was sent back to the quarantine. To protest this treatment, he started a hunger strike. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='20128'> Hrana published a letter signed by Maher Kaabi, Shirahmad Shirani, Ali Pajgol and Noorahmad Hasan Zerehi. The four have protested the use of “torture and discrimination” against non-local political prisoners in Ardabil prison and have detailed the treatment that Mohammad Saber received from the head of prison security, the internal prison manager (Mr Noroozi) and the guardsman (Mr Ghafoor Sadeqzade) </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='20117'> He was transferred to quarantine with bound hands and feet and was then beaten up by some prisoners on the orders of the prison management, HRANA reports. Based on this report, it is the treatment he received during these five days that prompted his hunger strike. A source told HRANA that “his detention period will not come to a natural end. He won’t leave that place alive, just like Ali Narooyi didn’t”. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='20161'> HRANA published a letter from Mohammad Saber Malek Raeisi addressed to Asma Jahangir. In his letter, he described his recent beating and the efforts of prison officials to manipulate the case. Based on this letter, Mr. Parviz Surazar, the Prison Information Security Officer, Farhad Norouzi, the head of ward and Ghafour Sadeghzadeh, a prison guard, were involved in the beatings and harassment. As Mohammad Saber Malek Raisi began to regain consciousness, Ardabil Prison clinic officials convinced him that he had murdered someone. This letter is registered in the evidence section of this page. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='20177'> Golbibi Malek-Rayisi, Mohammad Saber’s mother, wrote a letter to the head of the Intelligence Department of Sistan and Baluchistan province to explain the travails of her son in Ardebil prison and asked for intervention aimed at saving his life and his transfer to a prison “not ruled by ethnic and religious prejudice.” HRANA has published this letter and it is documented in the evidence section of this page. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='20275'> The mother of Mohammad Saber Malek-Rayisi has told Center for Human Rights in Iran that no one in the judicial and security authorities of Sistan and Baluchistan is accountable to her and that when she went to the Intelligence Department, the police came and asked her to leave. She said she wasn’t able to go to Ardebil due to health and financial issues. She also said Mohammad Saber Malek-Rayisi was a year younger than his ID card suggests. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='20369'> According to Hrana, the Ardabil prison authorities have cut the contacts of political prisoners with their families since a few days ago </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='24593'> A source who follows the development of Mohammad Saber’s case told IPA: “Mohammad Saber has spent five years and eight months in Ardabil prison and he has been able to meet his mom only twice. Both times, the prison authorities didn’t allow them to converse in Balochi language and when Golbibi Malek-Rayisi wanted to kiss her son, they separated them from each other. From 2009, Dadali Malek-Rayisi has only seen his son once and that was in Zahedan’s central prison. He is sick and can’t go to Ardabil. The family has repeatedly asked Ardabil prison authorities to allow a picture to be taken of Mohammad Saber so that it can be sent to his father. But they can’t even allow a father to see a picture of his son. Everyone believes Mohammad Saber to be a hostage of the Islamic Republic but even hostage-takers are not so cruel,” the source added. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='20535'> He ended his hunger strike </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='20603'> Just before his ninth birthday in jail, he wrote a letter about the nationwide demonstrations of January 2019. HRANA has published this letter, entitled “With torture and pressure, we won’t stop demanding freedom”. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='27244'> His family including his father visited him in Ardabil prison after years </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='24596'> According to IPA, he left the political section of the Ardabil prison and was transferred to the intelligence detention house of Ardabil </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='24597'> According to Iran Prison Atlas, Mohammad Saber Malek-Rayisi and Shirahamd Shirani were charged by Ardabil prosecutors with “publishing falsehoods aimed at hurting others” and “propaganda against the regime.” Shirahamd Shirani has been under heavy pressure by questioners and prison authorities due to his activities in defending the rights of other prisoners. Ardabil prison authorities accused him of contacting people outside the prison and spreading the news of violation of prisoner rights. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='24598'> According to IPA, Mohammad Saber Malek-Rayisi and Shirahamd Shirani are spending their third month in the quarantine section of Ardabil prison. Throughout this period, their contact with their families has been very limited. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='24643'> According to IPA, the other case against Mohammad Saber Malek-Rayisi and Shirahamd Shirani, under the charge of “propaganda against the regime” started in the Revolutionary Courts of Urumiyah under Judge Khodadadi. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='24072'> According to IPA, Mohammad Saber Malek Raeisi was sentenced to six months in prison on the charge of "agitating the public consciousness" by judge Feyzollahi. Shir Ahmad Shirani was cleared of the charge. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='26183'> According to IPA, Shir Ahmad Shirani and Mohammad Saber Malek Raeisi were sentenced to one year in prison on the charge of "propaganda against the system" by judge Khodadadi </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='27240'> Around this date, he was returned to from the quarantine ward to the political ward </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='27944'> <reference source='https://prisonatlas.com/malekraeisi6/'> An informed source told IPA that he was cleared of the charge of "propaganda against the system" by Ardabil Appeals Court </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='30017'> <reference source='http://balochcampaign.us/%d9%85%d8%ad%d9%85%d8%af%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%b1-%d9%85%d9%84%da%a9-%d8%b1%d8%a6%db%8c%d8%b3%db%8c-%d8%a2%db%8c%d8%a7-%d9%86%d9%81%d8%b3-%da%a9%d8%b4%db%8c%d8%af%d9%86-%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%a7%db%8c-%d9%85/'> Mohammad Saber Malek Raeisi criticized the Ardabil prosecutor's behavior by writing a letter and describing some details of his case to the head of the judiciary. According to the letter, prosecutor Tabatabai met with the detainees and treated them harshly in Ardebil prison. Prosecutor Tabatabai asked Saber Malek Raeisi about his charge and in responding to his request for leave, he answered that anyone who has acted against national security is not even allowed to breathe </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='33237'> <reference source='https://united4iran.org/en/15prisoners'> United for Iran published the fact patterns and legal analyses of Mohammad Saber Malek Raeisi's case, taking into consideration human rights and fair trial violations based on international treaties to which the IRI is a signatory. The Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) has been used as the lead document for this context. United for Iran has published similar fact patterns for 14 other political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, and has called on UN institutions to use these resources to file cases and follow up on their situations </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='33681'> <reference source='https://bit.ly/39FO0zn'> According to the IPA, with the increase in the number of people suspected of having COVID-19 in Ardabil prison, Mohammad Saber Malek Raeeisi, Shir Ahmad Shirani, and Maher Kaabi are being suspected of COVID-19 with having symptoms of this disease. An informed source told IPA researcher: > Seven prisoners in ward 7 of Ardabil prison including Abbas Lesani, Yousef Kari, Mohammad Saber Malek Raeisi, Shir Ahmad Shirani, and Maher Kaabi are suffering from fever, headache, dry cough and shortness of breath. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>