Mehdi Mahmoudian, the Iranian political prisoner who had written a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader about the prevalence of sexual abuse in Rejai Shahr Prison has been reportedly transferred to solitary confinement.
Fatemeh Alvandi, Mahmoudian’s mother has informed Persian BBC that her husband could not visit their son today and was told that Mahmoudian was not allowed any visits because he was in solitary confinement.
Jaras opposition website published Mahmoudian’s letter on May 9 noting that the letter was written to Ayatollah Khamenei last August but not found the possibility of publication until now.
Mahmoudian, a member of the reformist party Islamic Iran Participation Front writes that he has witnessed young men being sexually abused over and over without any interference from the prison authorities.
In the letter, Mahmoudian expresses concern over his own fate for publicizing the abuses going on in prison but he goes on to add that come what may, he swears an oath that all he has written is the absolute truth.
Mehdi Mahmoudian’s investigations were pivotal in revealing the heinous abuses in Kahrizak Detention Centre which led to the death of at least three detainees in summer of 2009. He also reported on the alleged mass burial of protesters killed in the post-election government crackdown on the opposition.
Mahmoudian’s post-election investigative activities led to his arrest in September of 2009.
