More than four months since the arrest of an Ahwazi journalist

Padmaz – According to human rights sources in Ahwaz, more than four months have passed since the arrest of the Ahwazi journalist Fouad Albufatleh by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s intelligence service.

According to the same reports Fouad Albuftaleh, charged with journalistic activities on social media such as Instagram, was arrested at around 12 noon on Wednesday, August 12, 2020, at his father’s house in Ramadan neighborhood in Ahwaz city. He was arrested by personal clothing agents of the intelligence service and taken to an unknown location.

Ahwazi human rights activists added that during the arrest of Fouad Albuftleh’s the agents confiscated his mobile phone, computer and other personal belongings.

Fouad’s family has been threatened by the intelligence that their children will face dangerous consequences if the news of Fouad’s arrest is announced. As a result of these threats, Fouad’s family is reluctant to talk about the situation of their friends.

This  Ahwazi journalist has been missing for some time and his family had no information about his fate. Their visits to the security and judicial centers in the city of Ahwaz were with no result and they did not know the status of their missing child. A while later, Fouad was allowed to call his family for a three minutes.

Two months later, on October 8, 2020, he was transferred to Sheiban Prison. More than four months have passed since the arrest of this Ahwazi journalist, but he is still in temporary arrest and has not been transferred to court.

Fouad Albufatleh, a 36-year-old resident of Ahwaz, has been arrested for his journalistic activities on Instagram.

The health condition of this Ahwazi journalist has been reported to be critical in recent days, however, the prison  authorities do not allow him to be sent to the hospital, nor do they allow him to receive any medicine.

Fouad is an Ahwazi journalist who worked for local newspapers. He was fired in 2008 for defending the rights of the Ahwazi people. Following this, despite unemployment, he continued to write on social media. He was arrested in 2014 and transferred to Evin Prison. This Ahwazi journalist was severely tortured in Evin Prison for four months, and when he was released from prison, his physical and mental conditions were worsened, and the effects of this deterioration have plagued him to this day.

Ahwazi human rights activists have called the Iranian government’s arbitrary detention of Ahwazi activists and their continued detention for long time without any right to a lawyer and not letting the families know about their prisoned members, are clear violations of human rights.

Human Rights Section – PADMAZ