Reza Khandan-Mahabadi
Age:
Activities/Rights: Writer
Status: Released
Judicial status: Pardoned
Violations: Arbitrary arrest and detention, lack of due process, unfair trial, denial of medical care, access to lawyer
Reza Khandan-Mahabadi is an author, literary critic, popular culture researcher and member of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA). In 2015, his home was raided and his written work and material seized and he was summoned and questioned. He was briefly detained as he could not afford the bail set. He appeared before Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Moghiseh with his co-defendants and IWA colleagues, Baktash Abtin and Keyvan Bajan on 22 January 2019. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment for “assembly and collusion against national security” and a year for “propaganda against the system” by the same court on 15 May 2019. His sentence was upheld by Judge Ahmad Zargar when it was heard before Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeal in December 2019. Reza was arrested and transferred to serve his sentence in Evin Prison on 26 September 2020. Despite suffering from hypertension, arthritis in his neck and ongoing issues with his lungs, he was denied medical care outside the prison. On 16 September 2021, he was the joint winner of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award.
Reza contracted Covid-19 which was untreated until he was ultimately transferred to Taleghani Hospital on 21 December 2021. He was sent on medical furlough on December 25 and forcibly returned to Evin Prison before recovering from his operation. On 13 October 2022, in the midst of the "Woman, Life, Liberty" nationwide protests, he was transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison without notice or opportunity to pack his belongings. He was released from prison on 16 February 2023 as part of the prison pardons announced to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution.