Vahid Asghari

As a women’s rights activist, he established the Women's Rights section of a news agency for the first time in the Persian media, before his arrest. He continually showed his concern about the condition of women in Iran, and raised awareness about the need for more open woman's rights activists in the country; he also demanded that the police of Iran do not intervene on mandatory veiling and respect the freedom of choice of clothing of Iranian women. He issued a statement on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The Islamic court thus summoned him and opened a case against him for establishing and running the International Campaign for the Promotion of Gender Equality.

He experienced and faced taser guns, batons, whips, pepper spray, tear gas, cable wire, noose, foot canes, nail-removers, a yoke, knuckle dusters, knife and karambit, a blade that was held to his throat and wrists, handcuffs and shackles, and even a loaded Colt that was held to his head, to force him to confess to crimes he didn’t commit. His lawsuit against IRCG military interrogators and judges has not been received any answers from the military court, media court or judges court.

I was beaten with a stick for hours and hours while blindfolded and handcuffed. With a knife against my throat, I was threatened with death and rape. I and my family were insulted. I was forced to make a confession and sign it. They then videoed my confession and broadcast the video with the national television station’s complicity although I was legally presumed to be innocent.

Reporters Without the Borders, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs for the United States, United Kingdom and France, and the High Representative of the Europe Union for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, demanded the immediate, unconditional release of Vahid Asghari. Reza Pahlavi, prince of the last king of Iran, issued a statement, also requesting his unconditional release; moreover, he created an alliance to work on Vahid Asghari and some other political prisoners’ cases.

This human rights defenders protector also established an Email to Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, to request Vahid Asghari’s unconditional release from the Islamic Republic government. William Gomez a human rights activist and journalist published a letter to Rouhani, demanding the release of Vahid Asghari and guarantees of human rights activists’ freedom and security in Iran. Human Rights Defending Association for Iran also demanded unconditional release of this women's rights defender.

Front Line Defenders Foundation, an organisation for human rights defenders at risk, which is located in Europe, aired concerns in July 2015 about Vahid Asghari's ongoing detention, and demanded his urgent and unconditional release:

Both verdicts were cancelled by the Supreme Court of Iran in December 2014 on the basis that the death penalty verdict was invalid and libel accusation false. The chairman of 28th Chamber of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, Mohammad Mogheyseh, sentenced him to 18 years of imprisonment on December 7, 2014. He received a final verdict, after beening held in temporary detention for several years. He was released in April 2016.

Vahid Asghari suffered from ear infections and a broken nose. He was brutally and frequently beaten during investigation in the prison. He developed carpal tunnel syndrome and had his teeth broken during a violent raid in political ward 350 by Iranian security servicemen on 17 April 2014. Despite needing specialized medical treatment, the government did not respond to his requests.

About 100 Iranian security servicemen stormed the prison on April 17, 2014, and Vahid Asghari seriously injured. He sued Evin Prison authorities and went on a hunger strike.

The previous verdicts issued by the cleric judges at the Revolutionary Court have been cancelled and there has thus far not been a final verdict against Vahid Asghari. The human rights defender had been sentenced to death twice by the 15th Chamber of the Revolutionary Court. However, the Supreme Court of Iran overruled these verdicts in December 2014 on the basis that the death penalty verdict was invalid and libel accusation false. The commutation of his death sentence to 18 years imprisonment also remains unconfirmed.

On August 13, 2014, he was moved from political ward 350 of Evin Prison to the political ward of Rajaei Shahr Prison near Tehran, a move that is allegedly used for punishing political prisoners that disobey prison authorities and the judiciary. Asghar's case were followed by international human rights organizations, and there was a petition online calling for his release.

Ahmed Shaheed, the UN special human rights rapporteur on human rights in Iran, wrote in his report to the UN that Vahid Asghari has been tortured into confession. In January 2013, Asghari wrote a letter to Ahmed Shaheed and explained his situation. But in punishment for writing the letter, he was denied visitation rights for a long period of time, and a new case was opened against him. Reporters Without Borders reported that confessions obtained by torture will be used in court against Vahid Asghari, and that his only crime is supporting opposition websites. Reporters Without Borders consequently demanded his unconditional release.

Vahid Asghari fully explained his tortures and the pressure on him in a letter to Judge of 15th Branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court on December 17, 2009. He wrote:

Vahid Asghari (Persian: وحید اصغری ‎), advocate for freedom of expression, women’s rights activist, and political prisoner, was detained by a group of Islamic Republic Guards Corps (IRGC) commandos on May 8, 2008 on his way to the Imam Khomeini International Airport, because of his human rights activities and held in solitary confinement for two years without trial. He was sentenced to death twice by the chairman of the 15th Chamber of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, Judge Abolqassem Salavati, in 2011 and 2012, without participating in the court proceedings and without the freedom to choose his own lawyer.

Human rights defender Mr Vahid Asghari has been in ‘temporary detention’ since 8 May 2008, when he was abducted by Islamic Republic Guard Corps (IRGC) commandos whilst travelling to Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport.