Voices of South Azerbaijan: Inside Tabriz Prison: Majid Khoshakhtar’s Story of Torture and Persecution

Inside Tabriz Prison: Majid Khoshakhtar’s Story of Torture and Persecution

Ensafali Hedayat, Voice of America, On October 11, 2012

Majid Khoshakhtar

Four months after being released from prison, the civil rights activist Majid Khoshakhtar spoke to Voice of America about the conditions he faced in Tabriz prison.

Currently granted political asylum in Turkey, Mr. Khoshakhtar had been accused of writing an article against Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and engaging in propaganda against the Iranian government.

Initially, in Iran's intelligence agency, Etelaat, and later in Tabriz prison, the national activist says he was subjected to "physical and mental torture" like other political prisoners detained in Iranian Azerbaijan.

"When I was arrested in front of my family, they insulted and beat me. After that, they continued to beat me in the Etelaat office. Typically, you are interrogated with your eyes blindfolded, and I was beaten on various parts of my body from behind," Khoshakhtar describes the detention process in the Islamic Republic.

According to him, political prisoners are usually placed in cells with drug addicts, which exposes them to the risk of contracting various diseases.

"In the deplorable prison conditions, there is one filthy toilet for every 50 people. The food is inedible. The prison administrators operate a restaurant, and they force prisoners to order food from their restaurant," says Majid Khoshakhtar.

Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
İşgəncənin anatomiyası: Milli fəal Məcid Xoşəxtər başına gələnləri Amerikanın Səsinə danışır

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