Activists

Farhad Meysami, 54, is an Iranian physician, teacher and civil activist. He believes in non violence and civil disobedience. He was sentenced to five year sentence in August 2018 for crimes such as “spreading propaganda against the regime”. He was released in February 2023 after a four-month hunger strike that grew international attention.

Farhad Meysami graduated from Tehran University of Medical Sciences, and opted for a career in high school education. He later established a publishing company, Andisheh-Sazan, which grew in the late 1990s. Andisheh-Sazan was particularly known to high schoolers for its test preparation books published for the Iranian university entrance exam. At the peak of its growth, Meysami shut down the company and engaged in human rights activism in Iran. He was arrested on July 31, 2018, and went on a hunger strike on August 1, 2018.

Meysami was arrested at his personal library and transferred to ward 209 of Evin prison in Tehran. He went on a hunger strike on August 1, 2018 to protest against “unjustified accusations, the illegal procedure following his detention, and denial of his right to access an independent lawyer”. He was not able to publicly announce his hunger strike before the 19th day of his strike, as he was being held in solitary confinement until that day. The allegation brought against Meysami is acting against the national security, a rather common accusation against political and civil rights activists in Iran. Apparently, Meysami’s support for the “Girls of Enghelab Street”—a series of protests against compulsory hijab in Iran— is being used to corroborate the charges against him. To provide the material evidence for the accusation the security forces have confiscated pin-back buttons from his library in Tehran. The pin-back buttons have “I do not agree with compulsory hijab” marked on them in Persian.

Meysami was denied access to an independent lawyer. Arash Keikhosravi, an Iranian lawyer, was barred from registering as his lawyer due to the section 48 of the recently amended the Criminal Procedure Code. Many Iranian prisoners have been affected by Section 48, including the prominent lawyer and human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh. Section 48 states that those accused of national-security crimes must choose their lawyer from a single list of 20 lawyers picked by the head of the judicial system of Iran. Human rights organizations have argued that it means there are only a few government picked lawyers who are allowed to represent political prisoners at court. This new policy gives further license to infringe on the rights of defendants.

Meysami went on a second hunger strike from October 2022 until his release on Feb 10, 2023 to protest the oppression of Mahsa Amini protesters and forced hijab in Iran. Images of his weak body went viral on social media in early February 2023, some even compared him with survivors of the Auschwitz. While judicial officials denied him being on hunger strike, his lawyer, Mohammad Moghimi, said his client’s life is in danger and he had lost 52 kg (115 lb). A few days layer, according to his lawyer, Meysami was asked for a bail to be released, which he denied; regardless, he was released on February 10, 2023.

In December 2018, Meysami was given a five year prison sentence, a one year restriction on his civil and political rights and a two year travel ban by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, for charges of “spreading propaganda against the system” and “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security.” His sentence that was upheld on appeal in August 2019.