Forced confessions of 5 athletes, increasing concerns about the death sentence for them
14-December-2022
Category: Iran's Uprising 2022، Prisoners
December 14, 2022
News group: Prisoners – Uprising 2022 –
Breathing in Confinement: Five athletes arrested during the protests were accused of bombing in Shiraz. Amir Arslan Mahdavi, Dena Sheibani, Hessam Mousavi, Eshragh Najafabadi and Mohammad Khiveh were tortured to confess for planning and carrying out a bombing attack in Shiraz.
According to “Breathing in Confinement”, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, on the night of December 13, Tasnim news agency published the forced confessions of 5 detained protesters accused of bombing in Ma’ali Abad in Shiraz. Considering the violent arrest of these protestors and the fact that they were denied the right to counsel or contact their families, broadcasting their forced confessions lays the groundwork for issuing heavy and even death sentences for them.
These protesters, were all interrogated and tortured in Shiraz by the Intelligence Unit of IRGC.
Dena Sheibani, 33, a graphist, rock climber and snowboard coach from Shiraz, was tracked down in Qeshm island on Thursday, November 10, 2022, in an online taxi. She was attacked by the armed agents, arrested, and transferred to the detention center of the Intelligence Office in Shiraz known as the Building Number 100. Concurrently with her arrest, her and her family’s electronic devices, including their laptops and cell phones, were confiscated by the security forces. She only contacted her family on the first day of her detention, and afterward there has been no news about her condition or her whereabouts. IRGC intelligence security forces have accused her of being “responsible for communications and the test of operation” for the bombing in Ma’ali Abad, Shiraz.
Amir Arslan Mahdavi, 34, a cyclist, mountaineer, rock climber, and snowboard coach was arrested on October 26.
Hessameddin Mousavi, rock climbing coach, was arrested in Isfahan on November 30 and transferred to Shiraz.
Eshragh Najafabadi, a former member of Iran’s national mountain cycling team, was arrested on November 9. He is accused of being the leader of the group and responsible for the bombing operation.
Mohammad Khiveh, a mountaineer and nature tourist, was arrested in Yasouj city and transferred to Shiraz.
The Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, strongly condemns obtaining and broadcasting forced confessions. The League also warns about the possibility of issuing the death sentence for these 5 prisoners and requests the international community as well as human rights authorities to take immediate and decisive action to stop the issuing and execution of death sentences for these prisoners as well as other detainees of the recent uprising.