Human Rights Activist Zartosht Ahmadi-Ragheb Released

According to Iran Human Rights, Zartosht Ahmadi-Ragheb was released from prison on Sunday, 3 January 2021, after serving a nine-month sentence.

Zartosht Ahmadi-Ragheb was arrested by security agents at his home on 27 August 2019 and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. Upon finishing his interrogations, he was transferred to Andarzagah 8 of Evin Prison at the beginning of October 2019. He was charged with “propaganda against the system, insulting the leadership and insulting the heads of the three branches of state.” After spending five months in temporary detention, Zartosht was released on bail on 13 January 2020.

On 30 May 2020, Zartosht wrote on his social media that he had been sent a court notice, summoning him to Evin Court for “photographing prohibited areas.” He surrendered at Branch 4 of the Execution of Criminal Sentences of the Public and Revolutionary Court of Shahriar on 15 June 2020, where he was arrested and transferred to the Greater Tehran Penitentiary.

Following his arrest, Zartosht began a long hunger strike in protest to the breaches in his due process and the trumped up charges in his case. He ended his hunger strike after he was granted a 19-day furlough.

He was arrested again at his home on 4 October 2020 and taken before an enforcement judge before being transferred to the Greater Tehran Penitentiary to serve out his sentence. At the hearing, the judge told him that his furlough would have led to his release but has to return to prison due to his interviews and civil activities. The next day, he began a hunger strike to protest the continuous trumped-up charges in his case.

Zartosht is one of the 14 activists who signed a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei demanding his resignation in June 2019, which resulted in another stint behind bars. He was a firefighter at the Tehran Fire Department for 17 years but was fired from his job for his civil activities.