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Kianush Sanjari

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Kianush Sanjari
کیانوش سنجری
Sanjari in 2008
Born(1982-09-11)11 September 1982
Tehran, Iran
Died13 November 2024(2024-11-13) (aged 42)
Tehran, Iran
Other namesKianoosh Sanjari,
Kianush Sanjari Baf,
Kiyanoosh Sanjari
Known forPolitical activist, political prisoner, journalist

Kianush Sanjari (Persian: کیانوش سنجری; 11 September 1982 – 13 November 2024) was an Iranian journalist and activist.[1] He had a history of being arrested and imprisoned in solitary confinement several times in Iran.[2]

Sanjari previously worked for Voice of America Persian News Network in Washington D.C., from 2008 to 2013. He also worked as a researcher for the Boroumand Foundation, the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, and the Iran Human Rights organization in Norway. He was a former student blogger.[3][4][5]

Biography

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Sanjari was born in Tehran on 11 September 1982.[6] He was arrested in Iran several times by the security forces, between 1999 and 2007, and served two years in Evin Prison, then he fled Iran to Iraqi Kurdistan. He received asylum from Amnesty International and traveled to Norway, and then later traveled to the United States.

In 2016, Sanjari returned to Iran to care for his aging mother, after several years of working with Persian-language media abroad.[7][8] But just a few days after arriving in Tehran, he was arrested by intelligence ministry agents and taken to Ward 209 at Evin Prison. He was interrogated and after a trial that lasted only minutes, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to 11 years in prison. He would have to serve a minimum of five years. He was also banned from leaving Iran for two years after serving his sentence.

In early 2019, after serving three years of his sentence, Sanjari fell sick and the prison doctor ruled that he must be granted a medical leave of absence. Instead, he was quickly transferred to Aminabad Psychiatric Hospital.[9] "One day they handcuffed me, put me in a car and transferred me, under guard, to Aminabad, also known as Razi, Psychiatric Hospital. They took me directly to the ward and two soldiers stood guard over me. At night the nurse injected me with something that for all intents and purposes locked my jaw. I fell unconscious after the injection and, in the morning when I woke up, I saw that my hands and feet were chained to the bed." He describes this moment as the "most painful" of his life.[10] By order of the Special Medical Committee, Sanjari was hospitalized several more times. He reported that during one of these hospitalizations, he was subjected to electric shocks nine times.

He was later[when?] on medical furlough, but was required to regularly present himself at Evin Prison, reporting to the office responsible for monitoring people convicted or charged with security offenses.

Amnesty International emphasized the case of Sanjari in its campaign for freedom of expression irrepressible.info, as Sanjari's charges stopped him from commenting and reporting the clashes on his blog, in a country where state media is heavily censored.[11]

White torture

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After being arrested and taken to solitary confinement in Evin Prison, he allegedly experienced white torture and commented:

"I feel that solitary confinement - which wages war on the soul and mind of a person - can be the most inhuman form of white torture for people like me, who are arrested solely for [defending] citizens' rights. I only hope the day comes when no one is put in solitary confinement [to punish them] for the peaceful expression of his ideas."[12]

Death

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Sanjari reportedly died by suicide in Tehran, on 13 November 2024, at the age of 42[13] after jumping off a building.[14] About 20 hours before his death, he warned on X that if the political prisoners Fatemeh Sepehri, Nasrin Shakarami, Toomaj Salehi, and Arsham Rezaei are not released from prison, he would commit suicide in protest against the dictatorship.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Khoshhal, Pouyan (18 August 2021). "Journalist Kianoosh Sanjari: Instead of Being Welcomed I Was Imprisoned and Tortured". IranWire. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  2. ^ "کیانوش سنجری در گفت‌‌وگو با بی‌بی‌سی: در یک دادگاه پنج‌دقیقه‌ای گفتند 'آمدی جاسوسی کنی و برگردی'" [Kianush Sanjari in an interview with BBC: In a five-minute trial, they said, 'You came to spy and come back.']. BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 26 March 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Take action to help individuals at risk and defend human rights". www.amnesty.org.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  4. ^ Esfandiari, Golnaz. "Released Activist Thinks Blog Riled 'Sensitivities'". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  5. ^ "Censura.net para 146 millones". 20bits/ 20minutos, www.20minutos.es (in Spanish). 2 November 2006. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  6. ^ "جلسه محاکمه کیانوش سنجری در شعبه ۲۸ دادگاه انقلاب تهران برگزار شد" [The trial session of Kianush Sanjari was held at Branch 28 of Tehran Revolutionary Court]. حقوق بشر در ایران (in Persian). 29 January 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  7. ^ قاضی Ghazi, فرشته Fereshte (3 December 2018). "کیانوش سنجری به یورونیوز: با یک برگه عبور یک طرفه به ایران بازگشتم" [Kianush Sanjari to Euronews: I returned to Iran with a one-way pass]. euronews (in Persian). Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  8. ^ "کیانوش سنجری پس از احضار و مراجعه به دادسرای اوین بازداشت شد" [Kianush Sanjari was arrested after being summoned to the Evin courthouse]. رادیو فردا (in Persian). 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  9. ^ "انتقال اجباری زندانیان به بیمارستان روانی؛ ترفندی برای ناتوان کردن روح و جسم زندانی" [Compulsory transfer of prisoners to mental hospital; A trick to disable the soul and body of the prisoner]. BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 13 July 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  10. ^ کاویانی Kaviyani, هانا Hana (18 October 2021). ""امین‌آباد اوج قساوت بود"؛ گفت‌وگو با کیانوش سنجری" ["Amin Abad was the height of cruelty"; An interview with Kianush Sanjari]. رادیو فردا (in Persian). Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  11. ^ Alejandra Vargas (30 October 2006). "Campaign pleads for the free expression in Internet". Nacion daily.
  12. ^ Golnaz Esfandiar (12 January 2007). "Iranian activist believes blog caused detention". International Relations and Security Network (ISN).
  13. ^ "گزارش‌ها از خودکشی کیانوش سنجری، فعال سیاسی و زندانی پیشین در تهران" [Reports of the suicide of Kianush Sanjari, a political activist and former prisoner in Tehran]. BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 13 November 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  14. ^ "Former VOA Farsi service journalist kills himself in Iran after demanding release of prisoners". Associated Press. 14 November 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  15. ^ "«گزارش‌ها از خودکشی کیانوش سنجری در اعتراض به ادامه بازداشت چند فعال سیاسی در ایران»" ["Reports of the suicide of Kianush Sanjari in protest against the continued arrest of several political activists in Iran"]. parsi.euronews.com. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
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