Farhad Meysami

Age: 53

Activities/Rights: Human rights activist

Status: Released

Judicial status: Pardoned

Violations: Arbitrary arrest and detention, lack of due process, unfair trial, denial of medical care, access to lawyer

Farhad Meysami is a civil activist, physician and teacher. On 31 July 2018, he was arrested at his office and transferred directly to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. The charges against Farhad were "propaganda against the system, assembly and collusion against the system and promoting and spreading anti-hijabism” for having badges that read “I protest the compulsory hijab” on them. On 1 August 2018, Farhad went on hunger strike to protest his arbitrary detention, the false allegations against him and the lack of access to his lawyer of choice. On 22 January 2019, his lawyer, Mohammad Moghimi said he had been notified that Farhad had received a six year prison sentence by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Salavati. The sentence was upheld by Branch 36 of the Court of Appeals on 21 May 2019. Farhad refused to appear in court in protest to the note to Article 48 of the Criminal Code of Procedure, which deprives the defendant of their right to choose a lawyer during the preliminary investigations. On November 30, he was threatened with new fabricated charges for sending a message on the anniversary of the assassination of Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar.

On 18 February 2022, an arraignment hearing was held in Karaj Revolutionary Court for the charge of “propaganda against the system” for his letters shared on social media. On 6 May 2022, Farhad went on hunger strike for 20 days in protest against Ahmadreza Djalali’s planned execution. A new case was opened against him due to his letters of protest from prison and hunger strike which he refrained from attending due to the lack of notice.

On 2 October 2022, during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” nationwide protests, Farhad announced that he had begun a three-stage action from prison against the widespread of protest repression to coincide with the International Day of Non-Violence that would start with a hunger strike of solid food at the first stage, writing and translating texts on the topic and taking long walks at the third stage. He gained domestic and international support during his hunger strike which he continued until his released from prison on 10 February 2023 as part of the prison pardons announced to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution.