Several times of deportation in just one week; Keyvan Samimi was deported to Semnan Prison
29-January-2022
Category: Prisoners
29-January-2022
Newsgroup: Prisoners –
Breathing in Confinement: On January 29, one day after his deportation to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, the political prisoner, Keyvan Samimi, was deported to Semnan Prison.
Keyvan Samimi was deported to Semnan Prison while in recent weeks he had been transferred from Evin Prison to Karaj Central Prison and returned to Evin Prison a few days later. Also, he was recently deported to the quarantine ward of Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, on Saturday, January 29, 2022, after several times of deportation to various prisons, Keyvan Samimi, a political prisoner imprisoned in Evin Prison, was deported from Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj to Semnan Prison.
Mostafa Nili, Keyvan Samimi’s lawyer, wrote on his personal page in social media: “This morning, Mr. Keyvan Samimi was taken out of Rajai Shahr prison and now is being deported to Semnan prison.”
Keyvan Samimi was deported to Semnan Prison while he had been transferred from Evin Prison to Karaj Central Prison in recent weeks and then returned to Evin Prison a few days later. He was again deported to the quarantine ward of Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj on January 27, 2022.
On January 19, 2022, Keyvan Samimi was deceived by the authorities of Evin Prison who pretended that were going to transfer him to a hospital. He instead, was taken out of Evin Prison and transferred to the detention center of one of the Karaj police stations. On January 22, 2022, Mustafa Nili, Keyvan Samimi’s lawyer, reported that Mr. Samimi in a phone call from the quarantine ward of Karaj Central Penitentiary said that he had been transferred to the public ward. However, the officials of the Karaj penitentiary did not accept Mr. Samimi and he was returned to Evin Prison. On January 27, Mr. Samimi was again deported to Rajai Shahr Prison.
Keyvan Samimi, a journalist and editor of Iran-e Farda Weekly, was arrested on International Worker’s Day in May 2019 and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. After 47 days of detention and interrogation, he was temporarily released from Evin Prison on bail.
On January 20, 2021, Mr. Samimi was sentenced in absentia by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, to six years in prison on charges of “conspiracy to act against national security” and “propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic.” However, Mr. Samimi’s objection to the proceedings was approved and the court set a time for a retrial.
Keyvan Samimi was retried and sentenced by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, headed by Judge Iman Afshari, to three years in prison on charges of “conspiracy to act against the security of the country.” The verdict was later upheld by Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals, presided over by Judge Ahmad Zargar.
Finally, although his request for retrial had been accepted by the Supreme Court, the branch of equal standing rejected the Supreme Court’s order and reduced Mr. Samimi’s sentence from 3 years to 2 years in prison.
Keyvan Samimi Behbahani was arrested and transferred to the quarantine ward of Evin Prison on December 7, 2020, to serve his three-year prison sentence.
Keyvan Samimi has a history of 4 years in prison after his arrest in 2009. He was a political prisoner during the Pahlavi dynasty. One of his brothers was executed in prison during the Pahlavi era and his other brother was executed in the 1980s.