Baluchi Teenager Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison

HRANA News Agency - Mohammad Saber Malek Raisi has been sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchestan Province. He is a Baluchi teenager arrested by Iranian Intelligence Agency in order to force his oldest brother to return to Iran. Abdol Rahman, Mohammad’s brother, fled the country in 2009 fearing for his life after he refused to be the Intelligence Agency’s spy amongst Sunni scholars and Baluchi tribes.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Mohammad Saber Malek Raisi was arrested when he was 17 years old and has been in prison for over a year in the Intelligence Agency’s detention center and the central prison in Zahedan. The Revolutionary Court has sentenced him to 5 years in prison. He must serve this prison term in exile.

One of Mohammad Saber Malek Raisi's brothers has reported that Mohammad must spend 5 years in Ardabil Prison away from his family and their residence. The city of Ardabil is in northwestern Iran in Ardabil Province while Zahedan is a city in the south east part of the country. Because of the long distance between two locations, Mohammad will be practically denied visits from his family at the age of eighteen.

During the past year, Mohammad Saber Malek Raisi has also been denied the right to attend school. His only crime is being related to his brother who is outside the country. Iranian Intelligence Agency has threatened Mohammad’s family multiple times with executing him if his oldest brother doesn’t return to Iran.

Mohammad Saber Malek Raisi is one the youngest prisoners arrested for political reasons by the Islamic Republic of Iran.