According to a report by the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, four months after the arrest of Golaleh Moradi, a Kurdish citizen from Iran’s Piranshar, she is still being held in the women’s ward of Urmia Central Prison and is denied access to an attorney.
According to a source familiar with Urmia Prison, Golaleh Moradi has been sent back and forth from prison to secret services detention center for interrogation and has been tortured and forced to sign a false confession, otherwise they will detain her two sons, who they had detained with her initially and threatened if she does not confess to what they want, her sons will face heavy consequences.
Golaleh Moradi was arrested by IRGC intelligence forces on Saturday, April 17, 2021, in connection with the killing of Osman Haji Hosseini a ranking member of the IRGC in Piranshahr, and transferred to Urmia. After 45 days of detention and interrogation she was transferred to the women’s cells of Urmia Central Prison.
Both sons of Golaleh Moradi, Taher Bazzazi (son-in-law of Osman Haji Hosseini) and 14-year-old Matin Bazzazi, were also arrested initially, but they were later released.
Osman Haji Hosseini was killed on Friday evening (April 16th) on Ziwieh Road, and shortly after a Kurdish opposition group called the “Eagles of the Zagros” took responsibility for the killing.
Iranian authorities continue to systematically deny individuals facing national security-related charges access to a lawyer at the investigation stage. In some cases, access is even denied at trial. Some defendants are tried in their absence because authorities fail either to notify them of their trial dates or transfer them from prison to court.
Many trials take place behind closed doors. Revolutionary Court judges show hostility towards defendants during court proceedings and treat the accusations of intelligence and security bodies as pre-established facts.
Forced “confessions” obtained under torture and other ill-treatment are broadcast on state television prior to trials and are consistently used as evidence by courts to issue convictions, even when defendants retract them.
Source: Hengaw Organization for Human Rights
Also read: Sexual Harassment And Torture: Amnesty Verdict On Iran Prison Videos