Jailed protester Hossein Hashemi was summoned to Tehran’s Fashafouyeh Public Court for “publishing lies” following the publication of a letter he wrote about dire conditions in the Greater Tehran Penitentiary.
He was detained for taking part in Iran’s November 2019 protests.
Hashemi has been ordered to present himself to court within seven days.
The new case has been filed against him after he wrote a letter in May about the conditions of the notorious Greater Tehran Penitentiary (Fashafouyeh Prison).
In the letter, the 28-year-old political prisoner said protesters who took to the streets in November 2019 were “not the spies of enemy states or traitors”.
He wrote: “We were workers who were tired of this tyranny and injustice. We are tired of not going anywhere. We are tired of seeing our young people searching in the trash, or addicts on the streets, or sleeping in graves. We are tired of seeing our women selling their bodies for food. We are tired of the brain drain. We have fought for humanity in Iran.”
Hossein Hashemi revealed in his letter that crystal meth, opium, and other drugs could easily be found in the political prisoner’s section in the Greater Tehran Penitentiary.
“However, a glass of drinking water, a proper toilet, proper heating, and cooling facilities, a quiet space for books and reading, a plant, a flower, or even a tree branch cannot be found. There is nothing in front of you except cement, rough walls, and barbed wire. There is not even a book that will let your imagination soar away from this place.”
On June 1, Hossein Hashemi was transferred to Section 4 in the Greater Tehran Prison, where prisoners convicted of violent crimes are being held. He went on hunger strike to protest the transfer and was attacked and beaten by the prisoners. He ended his hunger strike after he was returned to Section 2.
Hossein Hashemi has been serving a six year prison sentence for “blasphemy and disturbing public order and peace.” He has been sentenced to 74 lashes.
The 28-year-old has been detained for taking part in Iran’s November 2019 protests.
