Mohammadzadeh and Mahmoudian released on furlough

Committee of Human Rights Reporters – Mehdi Mahmoudian and Ali Akbar Mohammadadeh were released from prison today August 7th.

According to CHRR, Ali Akbar Mohammadzadeh - student activist and former head of the Islamic Association of Sharif University, and Mehdi Mahmoudian - journalist and human rights activist were granted furlough and released on bail.

Ali Akbar Mohammadzadeh who had been summoned, threated and interrogated several times since 2009, was violently arrested across Sharif University one day before the 25 Bahman (February 14) protests in 2011. The student activist was held in solitary confinement while undergoing harsh interrogations for 54 days. On September 17, 2011 Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Salavati handed Ali Akbar Mohammadzadeh a 6-year prison term which was upheld on November 9, 2011 by Branch 26 of the Tehran Appellate Court presided by judge Zargar. His sentence stemmed from the charges of “illegal gathering and collusion” (5 years) and “propaganda against the regime” (one year).

Mehdi Mahmoudian, is a member of Participation Front, member of Association for the Defense of Political Prisoners, and journalist who played a vital role in exposing the crimes and gross human rights violations that occurred at the now closed Kahrizak Detention Center before and after the contested presidential elections of 2009. He was arrested on September 26, 2009 and spent 70 days in solitary confinement where he was psychologically and physically tortured, after which he was handed a 5-year prison sentence. While incarcerated in Rajai Shahr prison, Mahmoudian wrote reports regarding the deplorable situation of the death row prisoners in the facility. He also wrote letters to Ayatollah Khamenei in which he described the appalling prison conditions and in detail chronicled the abuse and the torture of inmates.