Jailed dissident Majid Khademi has been in limbo for 15 months in Behbahan Prison in Khuzestan Province.
He has been prevented from contacting his family and banned from being released on bail, which was set in December at 3.5 billion Tomans.
There have been grave fears over the spread of coronavirus in Behbahan Prison, where prisoners have complained of overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. Particularly, the start of a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran has increased concerns about the spread of the virus in the prison.
Majid Khademi was arrested in Behbahan on January 18, 2020 after taking part in the nationwide November 2019 protests over the tripling of fuel prices.
He was charged with “acting against national security”, “complicity in destruction and setting fire to public property”,
“destroying banks and setting fire to public and government places”, “participation in disturbing public order”,
“participation in making civilian incendiary material”, “membership in an opposition group (The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK))”, “corruption on Earth”, “insulting Khamenei”, “communicating with the PMOI and dissident groups”.
For two months after his arrest, he was subjected to physical and psychological torture, as well as interrogation, by intelligence agents and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
The 29-yera-old dissident was denied access to a lawyer and even now his lawyer cannot access his case, instead having to rely on the sections authorised by the Intelligence Ministry.
In addition, his family have been pressured by the IRGC and the Behbahan Intelligence Service into not speaking to the media.
Majid Khademi was arrested alongside Mehran Qarebaqi, who is also 29 and from the same village as Khademi -Tilekoohi village near Behbahan. They are held on the same charges and their treatment in prison has been nearly identical.
Qarebaqi was already tried at the Revolutionary Court for “insulting the supreme leader” and “propaganda against the state”. He was sentenced to three years in jail for this.
