Kianush Sanjari
کیانوش سنجری
Born
Mehdi Senjaribaf[1]

Tehran, Iran
NationalityIranian
Other namesKianoosh Sanjari,
Kianoush Senjari Baf,
Kianoush Senjari,
Kiyanoosh Sanjari,
Kianush Sanjari
Known forPolitical activist, political prisoner, journalist

Kianush Sanjari (Persian: کیانوش سنجری), is an Iranian journalist and activist.[2] He has a history of being arrested, imprisoned, and imprisoned in solitary confinement several times in Iran.[3]

He previously worked for Voice of America Television 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.[4][5][6]

Biography

He has been 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] He was arrested and sentenced to 11 years in prison. 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 is currently on medical furlough, but is 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

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]

References

  1. ↑ "Exclusive: Journalist Kianoosh Sanjari on Returning to Iran - and Six Years of Hell". IranWire. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  2. ↑ Khoshhal, Pouyan (August 18, 2021). "Journalist Kianoosh Sanjari: Instead of Being Welcomed I Was Imprisoned and Tortured". IranWire. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  3. ↑ "کیانوش سنجری در گفت‌‌وگو با بی‌بی‌سی: در یک دادگاه پنج‌دقیقه‌ای گفتند 'آمدی جاسوسی کنی و برگردی'". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). March 26, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  4. ↑ Iran: Student activist and blogger Kianoosh Sanjari released on bail, Amnesty International, January 16, 2007.
  5. ↑ Golnaz Esfandiari, Iran: Released Student Activist Thinks Blog Riled 'Sensitivities', Radio Free Europe, January 11, 2007.
  6. ↑ Censura.net para 146 millones, 20minutos.es, December 2, 2006.
  7. ↑ قاضی Ghazi, فرشته Fereshte (December 3, 2018). "کیانوش سنجری به یورونیوز: با یک برگه عبور یک طرفه به ایران بازگشتم". euronews (in Persian). Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  8. ↑ "کیانوش سنجری پس از احضار و مراجعه به دادسرای اوین بازداشت شد" [Kianoosh Senjari was arrested after being summoned to the Evin courthouse]. رادیو فردا (Radio Farda) (in Persian). November 14, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 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). July 13, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  10. ↑ ""امین‌آباد اوج قساوت بود"؛ گفت‌وگو با کیانوش سنجری". رادیو فردا (in Persian). Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  11. ↑ Alejandra Vargas, Campaign pleads for the free expression in Internet, Nacion daily, October 30, 2006
  12. ↑ Golnaz Esfandiar, Iranian activist believes blog caused detention, International Relations and Security Network (ISN), January 12, 2007
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