Iranian Political Prisoner’s Phone Call Cut Off After He Mentioned “Torture”

The wife of Iranian political prisoner Yashar Tabrizi has denounced the abrupt termination of a phone call with her husband after he mentioned experiencing "pressure, threats and torture” while in custody.

In a statement posted on her Instagram page on December 3, Vahideh Imanzadeh said that the imprisoned activist’s call from Tehran’s Evin prison was cut off after two minutes after he began to speak about his loneliness, the mistreatment he has endured, and his deteriorating physical and mental condition.

"The responsibility for safeguarding my husband's life and mental health lies entirely with the judiciary and the Prisons Organization," Imanzadeh wrote.

Tabrizi was apprehended in the northwestern city of Tabriz ahead of the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death and subsequently transferred to Tehran’s Evin prison on September 14

He is being held in Wrad 240, which is overseen by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organization.

In a separate development, human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has been denied phone calls and visits since November 29. 

According to a post on her Instagram page, which is managed by her relatives, the head of Evin prison's women's ward informed Mohammadi of the authorities' decision to restrict her communication.

Previously, Mohammadi had been allowed to communicate with her siblings in Iran.

Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last month for keeping up her fight against the “oppression of women” in her country despite her multiple arrests and spending years behind bars.