Seven days before his 18th birthday, Abolfazl Karimi was arrested when he was returning from his grandfather’s funeral in Robat Karim. Four armed IRGC intelligence agents attacked teenager Abolfazl to arrest him. He thought these people were local thugs and intended to harass him. He ran away. They fire in the air several times. He stands and puts his hands on his head as a sign of surrender. IRGC intelligence thugs hit him in the head, face and abdomen. He is hit on the head with the butt of a gun so hard that his skull breaks and bleeds. They put a sack on his head and took him to the IRGC intelligence base with insults and beatings.
Interrogation room, IRGC Intelligence, Akbarabad
They hit Abolfazl in the abdomen and chest with their fists. He can hardly breathe.
– Karim Savaki, start, talk!
– What should I say?
– Name, address, what you did!
– I have not done anything and I do not know anyone.
An officer standing next to him punches Karimi in the back. Another 10 officers come to the room. Beat him for the whole 1 hour. They swear at teenager Karimi.
Silence
– Talk now!
– (cries) I swear to God, I did nothing!
– (cursing) Do not lie!
One of the officers takes him to another room with his eyes closed. Feeds him.
– We do not want to hurt you. If you cooperate, we have nothing to do with you.
He is taken to another room.
– I am the leader of the operational team that arrested you. After all, were you worth shooting? I have seen you everywhere. You have ruined this whole neighborhood. Stand up!
The leader hits him on the head and he falls to the ground. Several people hit him on the head and punched and kicked him for 10 minutes. Karimi begs not to be beaten. He cries. They leave him in the room.
– Lie down! Sleep on the tiles!
– It’s cold.
– Shut up! If you want, you can die!
Karimi stays up in that room with his hands and feet tied that night until morning. The next day he is taken to the judge on duty. The judge is not present. He was transferred to Ward 2A of Evin Prison. In the middle of the road, they stop the car and hit Karimi again.
Interrogation, Ward 2A, Evin
– If you don’t talk, we bring your mother here!
– What should I do?
– Take the rap for this gun!
– I’d be miserable, my life will be ruined.
– We bring your girlfriend here, we’ll rape her.
Abolfazl cries. Two whole days of interrogation. For 50 days, he was imprisoned in solitary confinement in ward two of the IRGC. 15 days in public ward. During this time, he only manages to contact his family once. He is then transferred to the Great Tehran Penitentiary. Where he is currently imprisoned and from there writes a letter ending with the following sentences:
To date, the authorities have promised us many things and none of them have been delivered. We have suffered these mental issues in prison because we protested and asked for our rights.
Dear people, you are expected to support us, your compatriots and always stand firm against tyranny.
Abolfazl Karimi, July 2020, Great Tehran Prison
On March 16, 2020, Abolfazl Karimi wrote another letter from prison, which was published on IranTrue here.
Translation of this post by Sahar.
This article is based on a letter from Abolfazl Karimi which was received and published by Human Rights Activists News Agency, HRANA, from prison.
