More than 60 days after the execution of Iranian wrestling champion Navid Afkari, his brothers Vahid and Habib Afkari are still detained under torture in the notorious Ebrat ward of Adelabad Prison in Shiraz.
“Vahid and Habib Afkari are detained in the Ebrat ward,” said a reliable source on Tuesday, November 10. “They are deprived of any contact or visits with their family. They continue to be deprived of visiting the tomb of their brother, Navid.”
The Afkari family is concerned about the conditions of Vahid and Habib Afkari. They have tried every possible means to secure the release of their sons, without any answer.
In a letter from prison, Vahid Afkari pointed out that he is innocent but Mehrdad Tahamtan, the court judge, and other torturers did not heed his defense. Instead they ridiculed him.
Vahid Afkari also noted that he did everything he could over the past two years to have his voice heard. He went on dry hunger strike; he committed suicide and was in coma for three days, and yet his voice was not heard.
Ebrat is a notorious ward in the Adelabad Prison of Shiraz, where prisoners are tortured physically and psychologically for hours and hours every day. The guards in this ward are among the most ruthless.
Navid Afkari spent the final days of his life in this ward and was viciously tortured before being hastily executed.
The inmates are held incommunicado, deprived of fresh air, access to telephone and other basic things like TV or library, etc.
Most of the detainees in Ebrat ward are those arrested during the protests in November 2019 in Shiraz. There are also detainees who have been banished to the Ebrat ward from Tehran, Behbahan, Sanandaj, Karaj, and other cities in Gilan Province.
