Shamsoddin Mehdizadeh, 60, father of three Ashraf residents, has been arrested along with his daughter, son-in-law, and their 3-month-old baby
NCRI – According to reports from Iran, on May 13, 2009, agents of the mullahs’ Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) raided the house of Mr. Shamsoddin Mehdizadeh, 60, father of three residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq. During the raid, MOIS agents confiscated his personal belongings and arrested him. Also arrested on that day during the attacks were Mr. Mehdizadeh’s daughter, Monir, her husband, Mr. Ali Afshani, and the couple’s 3-month-old baby, Amirhessam. They were all taken to an undisclosed location and the family’s attempts to discover their whereabouts have not been successful.
It should be reminded that the fate of other relatives of Ashraf residents, who were arrested and taken to the notorious Ward 209 of Evin prison on February 20, 2009, after MOIS agents violently raided their houses in Tehran, also remains unknown. Despite the passing of three months since their arrest, a period marked by constant psychological and physical torture, the status of all those arrested, including Ms. Fatemeh (Houri) Ziai, Ms. Mahsa Naderi, and Messrs Hamed Yazarlou, Ehsan Erfani, and Mohsen Tarlani, remains unresolved. Mohsen Naderi, Ms. Mahsa Naderi’s father, is being interrogated in Ward 8 of Evin prison by one of the regime’s henchmen identified as Sheikhan.
Mr. Hamed Yazarlou’s brother, Hood Yazarlou, a 21-year-old student who was sentenced to three years in prison for going to Ashraf to visit his relatives, was transferred on May 23 to a ward allocated to dangerous prisoners in the Gohardasht prison in Karaj (western Tehran). His mother, Ms. Nazila Dashti, 49, has also been imprisoned at Evin prison on similar charges.
Separately, the mullahs’ Judiciary has issued unjust rulings against other arrested relatives of Ashraf residents, thereby placing more pressure on them. On May 11, Ms. Kobra Banazadeh Amirkhizi, a 56-year-old mother, was sentenced to 5 years in prison on charges of acting against national security and conducting activities in support of the the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Ms. Sedigheh Falahatnezhad, has also been sentenced to 8 years in prison on similar charges.
Ms. Amirkhizi and Ms. Falahatnezhad are some of the Ashraf residents’ relatives, who despite having official passports and visas, planned to travel to Iraq to visit their families in Ashraf, but were arrested on January 16 along with 18 others at the Tehran airport after MOIS agents attacked and beat them, eventually transferring them to Ward 209 of Evin. These prisoners have been subjected to continuing psychological and physical torture. Ms. Amirkhizi is on the brink of losing sight in one of her eyes due to the imposed strains.
In December 2008, the Iranian Resistance provided international authorities with the identities of the families of 87 members of Ashraf residents, who were arrested and imprisoned after visiting their relatives in Ashraf.
The Iranian Resistance calls for global condemnation of the brutal suppression of families of PMOI members and Ashraf residents, and demands the immediate intervention of international authorities and human rights organizations for the release of the detained relatives.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
May 24, 2009
