Witness name and surname: Withheld
Sex: Female
The place about which he is testifying: Withheld
Witness status: Arrested
Type of testimony before the Tribunal: Withheld
November 16th, at 5pm, , there was a gathering of students and grassroots protesters. Students were trying to come out onto the street, while preventing the security forces from entering the campus. (The agents) weren’t able to enter the campus but by using tear gas, they were able to disperse the students. The guards closed the university’s gates, preventing students from leaving.
The security forces mostly threw tear gas from motorcycles. There were agents who wore all black uniforms. Their faces were uncovered. Their cars were black and the logo IRGC Patrol was on the cars. They had big guns. They fired into the air and made arrests.
Individuals wearing plain clothes had guns and most of them had tear gas in their hands. Most of them covered their faces with scarves. They milled about among the protesters, asking, “how many are you and where are you headed?” and as soon as they found out, they arrested you. I saw many younger folks between 16 to 20 years of age being arrested. Several individuals jumped on them, in such a way that even people couldn’t pull them off. People with black uniforms and the IRGC insignia ordered that they be taken away either by car or be brought to the buildings of the neighbourhood. I remember plainclothes men passed by, alongside us. I remember (one of them) who I had seen looking at us angrily on the sidewalk. I saw him again during interrogation and he insisted on my making a false confession and I also saw him the court.
They beat up lots of younger people on the heads, hands, necks with nightsticks. Mostly, they hit people on the head so that they couldn’t fight back, and 2 or 3 young people were taken by the hand and carried away. I saw one young person, 17 or 18 years old, whose forehead was split open and he was covered in blood. They arrested him. They used water cannons to disperse (those who were standing) but people stood in place and protested. They themselves set garbage cans on fire so that people would feel unable to breathe and (go) away. We too had to go one street further. There were guards in the square, but people were being dispersed. The (guards) had nightsticks and tear gas in their hands. They mostly wore dark grey, green, or black clothes. They stood on the side of the sidewalk where they could suppress people. When we returned to the Square, we saw that people had completely dispersed.
November 17th , at 8:30PM, the Square was empty and there was no news. streets were crowded, and they restrained and suppressed all along the way. The moment we arrived was when they were dispersing, and they said it hadn’t been yet a half hour since they gathered. (Agents) wore black clothes stood around the street and tried to disperse the people with wooden sticks and tear gas. One of the Aban detainees witnessed the arrests on the Street. I realized that the shootings and arrests there were different and more violent from what was going on in the Square.
Around 11PM, they came in front of the apartment. First, my husband saw with his own eyes a
woman with Chador[1]. I opened the door, she shoved me. About 10 plainclothes men violently poured into the house. They began to shout. They told my husband that they were from the IRGC Intelligence. My husband and I protested, “you could have at least waited for us to get dressed.” They shouted that we had to do everything they said. They took my notebook, CDs, flash drive, mobile, laptop, manuscripts, and my personal diary, and I am no longer in possession of them. They took my mobile and checked my Instagram page. They tried to forcibly tie up my hands and sat my husband (and I) down on a chair. One of them filmed everything that was going on. They put a leaflet in front of me, which had no name on it, claiming (me to be) the leader person of the petrol protests, leader of the Restart group, leader of the ISIS terrorists, leader of the supporters of the Iraqi protests in Iran, and the leader of the monarchists. Although I resisted, they grabbed my finger and put it on the bottom of the leaflet. They grabbed my wrist and demanded I write my name there on the paper. He said that they had taken this leaflet from many houses tonight.
I was blindfolded and handcuffed while still inside my house. In the street, I noticed one or two of them had big weapons in their hands. I realized that they had taken me to a large place, like a workshop, and there were many rooms. There was a lot of noise, and it was clear that many people had been arrested. They took my personal identifying information and my fingerprints. They cursed, pushed, and pinched me, as they put me in a cell. I was blindfolded until I was in the cell. Solitary confinement cells were either 4 meters, 6 meters or 12 meters. A woman entered and said that I must give them all my clothes. They brought a series of coats, pants, and headscarves that I could choose from. They were very dirty, filthy, and noxious.
The next day, I was taken away to the public prosecutor’s office at 8:30AM. My husband was standing there with my medications.. They said the prosecutor, , wasn’t there, and the prosecutor who was on shift said to me, “you’ve been arrested because of your posts and your work to cause disturbances. Did you write that this Instagram page is yours? I wrote yes. He wrote, this page is connected to calls to riot during the Aban petrol protests. I wrote, I don’t accept that. He had charged me with making propaganda against the system and inciting disturbances.
At the first session, the interrogator told me he was from IRGC Intelligence. At the third session, the interrogator asked, “Is our hospitality better than the Intelligence Ministry?” They put 9-10 leaflets in front of me and repeatedly asked me questions such as “Why were you involved in these activities?” “Why were you at the protests?” “Who asked you to participate in the protests?” They interrogated me 18 times.
They’d often take people at 8 in the morning, sometimes it went on to 2 or 3, sometimes ending at 11PM. They asked about my and my husband’s activities and made threats. They then asked about my personal and intimate relationships. I was blindfolded the entire time, during the interrogations and facing the wall. Only twice during that time, was I allowed to lower the blindfold and see the face of the interrogator. During the time of the interrogation, a few people entered the room and harassed and piled obscenities on me. He (spoke) about my friends and asked if they were having sex with each other. He threatened that one day I’ll see that a car would have hit my husband. He said they can destroy both me and my husband and nobody would ever know what had happened to us. I fainted three times during interrogations, they poured water on me to wake me up and gave me sugar water. .” All of a sudden, I felt awful and had a seizure. They put me in solitary confinement. Two, three hours later, they returned and finally (gave) me 2 or 3 lumps of sugar in a glass of water. From the other rooms, I heard men screaming and shouting and, to a lesser extent, women doing the same. One time a man who came said “You are one of those kinds sluts, I know how to service you.” I thought he would very possibly, rape me. One time they said, (speak in front of the camera), I said “bring the camera, I won’t speak at all.”
(Once) I wrote that if the repeated torture and interrogations continued, and they still wouldn’t allow me to contact my husband, I would go on hunger strike, and this resulted in their letting me contact him twice. I was able to speak to my husband 5 days after my arrest. They stood over me and said “only say you are fine and well, you have no problems, and that you’re safe.” I wasn’t allowed (to retain a lawyer) at all.
I heard from an adjoining room that their own forces were saying that one person was completely unconscious, and one person (had) died. They said, “one person is dead, now what do we do with him?” Someone said, “where was he shot?” They answered, “he was shot in the street. I noticed a hit to the head or neck.” They were trying to hide their identities. From under the blindfold, I could (see) 2 people. Young people, 23 or 24 years old, (were) tied together and their heads were down. They were in a very bad state. They cried. One of them begged and said “please don’t hit me anymore, I’ve had enough.” Another was fainting and it was clear he was dizzy and his hand was bloody.
The solitary confinement room and the bathroom were very dirty. In the bathroom, there was a camera in the same shower area. They wouldn’t even give me toilet paper. I was often brought to (interrogation) at night. When I went, I wasn’t offered food at all. If my health declined, they would put some sugar water in front of me. They gave me water when my health was bad. They put a paper cup in my cell and told me to drink water from the bathroom sink. I said, “it’s very cold.” They said they had ordered the cooling system stay on. They took everything away at night and there nothing I could cover myself with. I only had ice water to take a shower with and as a result it made me verycold. They took (me) to go the infirmary. The doctor prescribed one or two medications and said to use them every day, but I was afraid to use them. After I went to the prison, the doctors saw the medications and said “if you had taken this medication for two or three days, you would have become unconscious and would have definitely had a cerebral haemorrhage.
It had been 2 days since I entered prison, and the other prisoners notified my husband that I’d been brought to the prison . A week later, they took me to court. The prosecutor was very nasty. I was defending myself and he said “You are mentally ill. We must take you to an insane asylum.” He said, “you are charged with conspiracy and inciting disturbance against national security and the nation”. I wrote that I do not accept this (to plead not guilty). He said, “now I know what kind of report to write about you that will teach you a lesson.”
I was able to talk to a lawyer before the trial began. When I first walked in, he shouted “pull your headscarf up!” He wouldn’t allow my lawyer to speak. He said “I will hand down the worst possible sentence to you.” I wasn’t allowed to answer at all. He was nasty. Once, in the middle of my court session, he asked for a 19 or 20-year-old boy. He also asked him (questions). He only asked questions that were humiliating. He said, “in this system, some people have killed their children. Your mother and father should kill you.” My lawyer then offered a good defence. He said, “I will make a decision based on a report written by an expert. There is no defence for you.” I said they took a false confession from me, he laughed and said, “you are lying.”
I think 2 or 3 days later a (court) session was held to announce the verdict. My lawyer was informed. Because I hadn’t been notified, I protested and said to the court that I wouldn’t be going. They just issued the verdict and didn’t allow a final defence. They asked me to go again without a summons and I didn’t go. The charge was ‘propaganda against the system and conspiracy to cause public disturbance’. I appealed to the court and the sentence was confirmed.
[1] a large piece of cloth that is wrapped around the head and upper body leaving only the face exposed, worn especially by Muslim women.
