Hamid Rast ‌Bala

Hamid Rast Bala was a Golestan province resident. He was charged with "waging war against Islamic ruler" through "membership in the Hezbal-Furqan Salafi group," and "being a member of Iran's Sunni National Solidarity Front." He was sentenced to death and eventually executed.

• <coverage-outsourcing id='58768'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2020/hranews/a-26088/'> According to HRANA, he was arrested by the security forces and taken to Mashhad Intelligence Detention Center. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='32073'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2020/hranews/a-26062/'> Hamid Rast Bala was transferred to Mashhad's Vakilabad Prison. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='32072'> <reference source='https://bit.ly/4bBVb8c'> At least 13 citizens of Golestan and Khorasan Razavi provinces were arrested by intelligence agents. 9 of these people named Hamid Rast Bala, Farhad Shakeri, Kabir Saadat Jahani, Mohammad Ali Arayesh, Isa Eid Mohammadi, Hakim Azim Gorgij, Taj Mohammad Khormali, Abdolrahman Gorgij, Malek Ali Fadai Nasab, were accused of being members of "Ansaral-Furqan and Sunni National Solidarity Front of Iran," and 4 others named Morteza Fakouri, Abdolbaset Avarsan, Mohammad Reza Sheikh Ahmadi and Hossein Varasteh Soleimani are accused of "membership in the Salafi group of ISIS". IranWire announced that most of these people were arrested on this date. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='34078'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2020/hranews/a-26088/'> He was transferred from solitary confinement in Mashhad Intelligence Detention Center to Vakil Abad Prison in this city. According to the report of HRANA, during the interrogation of the case, Hamid Rast Bala, Farhad Shakeri, Kabir Saadat Jahani, Mohammad Ali Arayesh, Isa Eid Mohammadi, Hakim Azim Gorgij, Taj Mohammad Khormali, Abdolrahman Gorgij, Malek Ali Fadai Nasab, Morteza Fakouri, Abdolbaset Avarsan, Mohammad Reza Sheikh Ahmadi, and Hossein Varasteh Soleimani were subjected to "physical, sexual, and mental torture", and during the interrogation process, the intelligence agents assaulted them with stun guns, pepper spray on their genitals, and threatened to arrest and rape their families. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='34079'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2020/hranews/a-26088/'> According to HRANA, Judge Mahmoud Davoudabadi, head of the first branch of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, sentenced Hamid Rast Bala, Farhad Shakeri, Kabir Saadat Jahani, Mohammad Ali Arayesh, Isa Eidmohammadi, Taj Mohammad Khormali, Hakim Azim Gorgij, and Abdolrahman Gorgij for the charge of "waging war against Islamic ruler through membership in the Salafist group Hezbol-Furqan and membership in the Sunni National Solidarity Front of Iran." Based on this report, all the defendants were deprived of access to a lawyer of their choosing and also sufficient time to present their defense. Also, according to the letter provided to HRANA, the security apparatus forced them to confess against themselves by applying "torture"; The accused's letters to the judicial authorities regarding forced confessions (written and in front of the camera) have remained fruitless and the authorities have not been responsive. In HRANA's report, the names of four other prisoners, Hossein Varasteh Soleimani, Morteza Fakouri, Abdolbaset Avarsan, and Mohammad Reza Sheikh Ahmadi, are also mentioned. Soleimani was sentenced to death for membership in ISIS and the other three have been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Later, IranWire wrote that Abdollah Mazraeh was also sentenced to death in this court on charges of "waging war against Islamic ruler through membership in the Salafist group Hezbol-Furqan and membership in the Sunni National Solidarity Front of Iran." </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='32076'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2020/hranews/a-26062/'> Harana published a grievance letter from Mr. Rast Bala. In this letter, he mentioned a lack of decision, five years of detention, refusal to change the detention order into bail and temporary release, deprivation of the right to contact the family for him and other people related to this case for several months during detention, beatings and physical tortures. etc. In a part of his note, referring to the details of the interrogation period and the pressure of the security agents to obtain a televised confession, he said: > We were tortured for almost 10 months in solitary cells to obtain false confessions. Many of us Sunni political prisoners were tortured with whippings and strong shockers. A few of us were even subjected to sexual torture by spraying pepper spray on the genitals and anus. They threatened us with arrest, torture, assassination, and raping our families. According to them, we had to write confessions that they could charge us with. Many of us had lost our mental and emotional balance under these tortures, and to get rid of these tortures and pressures, we accepted any kind of accusations that were attributed to us. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='58854'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2020/hranews/a-26088/'> HRANA wrote that Judge Hassan Heydari was the first investigator of the cases of Hamid Rast Bala, Farhad Shakeri, Kabir Saadat Jahani, Mohammad Ali Arayesh, Isa Eid Mohammadi, Hakim Azim Gorgij, Taj Mohammad Khormali, Abdolrahman Gorgij, Malek Ali Fadai Nasab, Morteza Fakouri, Abdolbaset Avarsan, Mohammad Reza Sheikh Ahmadi, and Hossein Varasteh Soleimani, and the second investigator of these cases was Judge Bazargan Manesh. HRANA also added that these people have been accused of being members of the "Furqan Party" group, while according to them, the said group was active in Iran from 1992 to 1997, and all of them were on average 10 to 12 years old during these years. Based on additional news from various news sources and the evidence, the above also applies to the case of Abdollah Mazraeh (Abdolhasan Mazraeh). </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='34087'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2021/hranews/a-28139/?tg_rhash=22a41dd9689763'> Hamid Rast Bala, Kabir Saadat Jahani, and Mohammad Ali Arayesh, three Baluch Sunni prisoners, were executed this morning in Mashhad Prison. There are no credible reports available on decisions made at the Supreme Court about this case. However, it appears that the Supreme Court has recently confirmed the three executed prisoners' death sentences. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='34301'> <reference source='https://prisonatlas.com/%d8%a7%d8%b9%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%85-%d8%b2%d9%86%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%86%db%8c%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a8%d9%84%d9%88%da%86/'> In a statement, United For Iran condemned recent executions of Baloch political prisoners and warned about the possibility of executing three other prisoners. Abdulhamid Mirbalochzehi, Hamid Rast Bala, Kabir Saadat Jahani, Mohammad Ali Arayesh, Hassan Dehvari and Elias Ghalandarzehi are among the executed prisoners and Amanollah Baluchi (also known as Amin Mirbalochzehi), Abdolrahim Kouhi and Javid Dehghan Khold are also under the threat of execution. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>