Prisoners' Rights Campaigner Hauled Back to Evin Prison

An Iranian human rights activist who documented ill-treatment of detainees after the November 2019 protests has been arrested again himself, colleagues said on Monday.

Ahmad Reza Haeri was reportedly taken to Ward 2A of Evin Prison, which is run by the IRGC. IRGC agents had raided his home earlier this month and seized some of his personal belongings, including his laptop, phone and tablet.

ساعت سه ونیم امروز با یورش ۹ مامور سازمان اطلاعات سپاه
آقای #احمد_رضا_حائری بازداشت و به بند دو الف سپاه منتقل شد.
لپ تاب و گوشی و تبلت نام برده توسط مامورین سپاه به زندان منتقل شده است. pic.twitter.com/3cTl6b3OxQ

— Arash Sadeghi (@Arash_sadeghii) June 27, 2022

Haeri has dedicated much of the past two years to sharing updates on the cases of individual November 2019 protesters with fellow Iranians. He was particularly active on Clubhouse and Twitter, and paid special attention to those who had not been named online or in the media before.

#رشتو#خیلی_مهم

1/ به دلیل ندادن عفو کلی به بازداشت‌شدگان اعتراضات آبان ۹۸ و دیگر اعتراضات، هر هفته شمار تازه‌ای از جوانان این ملک تنها به دلیل حضور در این اعتراضات روانه زندان‌ها می‌شوند، اسامی تعدادی از این زندانیان که تاکنون در رسانه‌ها منتشر نشده عبارت است از:
۱) احسان زندیه

— احمدرضا حائری (@Ahmadreza_haeri) February 24, 2022

This will be at least Haeri's third experience of intimidation by the IRGC and judiciary. Last October he was summoned by the Computer Crimes Court after a complaint by Tehran Province’s General Directorate of Prisons, charged with “spreading lies” and “obscenity”.

The previous summer, Haeri was flogged 74 times in Evin Prison and handed a six-month sentence at Greater Tehran Penitentiary for “propaganda against the regime” and “disturbing the public mind”.

It came as a result of an incident in April 2014, in which Haeri was arrested for protesting against a violent raid and assault by more than 100 guards on political prisoners on Ward 350 of Evin Prison, now known as “Black Thursday”.

He was held in solitary confinement by the IRGC for two months, then sentenced to 42 months by the Revolutionary Court, reduced to six months and 74 lashes on appeal. On that occasion, he was finally released on parole in October 2020.