Akbar Muhammadi
2007
oil on canvas
40" x 30"
$3,000

(Purchasing Information)

Student
Iran

The letter came from Tehran's Evin jail, cell 93 of block 209: "I was hit with an electric cable, hung up by a rope and violently beaten."

In January, 1999, Akbar Mohammadi was arrested during pro-democracy student demonstrations at Tehran University that led to the deaths of five students at the hands of Iranian police forces. One of four students convicted in a secret trial and slated for execution for his participation in the protest, reports of his torture emanated from the Evin jail. Whipping and mutilation were carried out by prisons guards attempting to coerce confessions, and the resultant hearing loss and kidney failure suffered by Akbar Mohammadi was endured without the provision of medical treatment. While his case is believed to be amongst the most severe, Akbar Mohammadi's situation is not unique. In all, approximately 1500 students were arrested during this and subsequent protests, the majority held in isolation, neither their names nor their locations released by the Iranian authorities. While all of the death sentences were later commuted, political prisoners remain incarcerated in Iran for the peaceful statement of their beliefs, often serving long sentences based on false charges, and carrying fear for their own safety and diminishing hope of release.

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