My name is Reza Veisi. I was imprisoned from 1981 to 1985 for supporting the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). I was imprisoned in Evin, Ghezelhesar, and Gohardasht prisons, and I want to share what I witnessed the criminal Raisi did.
In 1985, they transferred me from a solitary cell in Gohardasht prison to Evin prison. I had stayed three years more than my initial prison sentence, but since I refused to give a televised confession and condemn the MEK, they refused to release me. I was under pressure and interrogation in Evin’s solitary confinements, also known as “resting ward.”
To put more pressure on me, besides keeping me in solitary confinement and using other forms of torture, they put pressure on my family to force me to make a televised confession and interview. They brought my parents to Evin’s central office. Raisi told my family and me that your son is not being released because he refused to interview. I started arguing, saying that my prison sentence had ended for three years, with what rights are you detaining me? Raisi immediately started insulting me, and his show failed.
In addition to me, there were many other prisoners that the regime wanted to use their family members to pressure the prisoners to disavow from the MEK. The MEK martyrs, such as Mansoor Sabaghi, Homayoun Solati, and Mojtaba Yashminia, who were executed during the 1988 massacre, were prisoners.
I would like to underline that when Raisi was in prison, we had no idea he was a cleric. He was an uneducated man who insulted and cursed prisoners constantly and we thought he is a member of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
We later realized he was Raisi, who had become Tehran’s prosecutor and is a cleric. He was the key person to increase the pressure on many MEK prisoners who did not disavow their ideals.
They took us to the “closed doors” cell. We were about 30 to 40. TO break our spirit, they brought some ordinary prisoners and flogged them under some ridiculous pretexts. They wanted to break us, hear them cry in pain, and by hearing floggings.
I would like to recall two MEK martyrs, Bahman Biabanaki and Saeed Jalali, who defended their ideals and were executed in late June 1985.
I urge the United Nations Secretary-General, the international community, and human rights organizations that do not to legitimize Raisi by allowing him to give speeches in international bodies. He is a henchman, a murderer, and a criminal that should be prosecuted and put on trial.
The firmness in dealing with Raisi is the best way to help the Iranian people and their uprising and brings joy to the hearts of the families of all martyrs, mainly those of the 1988 massacre and the November 2019 uprising.
