Yousef Souri, an Arab political detainee, was moved from Sheiban Prison in Ahwaz to an undisclosed location.
Reports from human rights activists in Ahwaz indicate that on Friday, July 19, 2024, Yousef Souri, a resident of the Abu Hamizeh area in Dasht-e Azadegan, was transferred by intelligence agents from Sheiban Prison (the central prison in Ahwaz) to an unknown place.
Yousef Souri, son of Mehdi, was apprehended by IRGC intelligence in Khafajiyeh, Dasht-e Azadegan, on November 8, 2018. He was detained at the IRGC’s Imam Ali Detention Center in Ahwaz and, following months of severe torture, was sentenced by the Ahwaz Revolutionary Court to one year in prison and four years of suspended imprisonment on charges of propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran and ties with opposition groups. In July 2023, this sentence was altered to six years in prison and four years of suspended imprisonment.
Souri had been held in Sheiban Prison for a year and a half without clear charges, and in March 2020, he was released on bail of 5 billion tomans pending a verdict.
Under the original sentence of one year in prison and four years suspended, Souri should have completed his sentence and been released. However, in July 2023, the Ahwaz Revolutionary Court inexplicably revised his sentence to six years in prison and four years suspended. After appealing, the sentence was upheld by the 17th branch of the appeals court, and on Monday, January 29, 2024, after being summoned by the 8th branch of the Ahwaz Revolutionary Court’s enforcement division, and after the new sentence change was read, he was transferred to Sheiban Prison.
Yousef is now serving his six-year sentence in Sheiban Prison in Ahwaz, with approximately three years and a few months remaining. His family has no information about the reasons for his transfer by intelligence agents from Sheiban Prison in Ahwaz to an undisclosed location or his current whereabouts.
Yousef Souri, 34 years old, is married and the father of three children. He is a resident of the Abu Hamizeh area, a suburb of Khafajiyeh.
Hossein Bouazar originates from Ahwaz and stands as a fervent champion for human rights. Deeply connected to his Ahwazi Arab heritage, his literary works illuminate the adversities faced by this community. An outspoken critic of the Iranian regime, Hossein bravely highlights the grave human rights violations inflicted upon the Ahwazi Arabs. Through his compelling narratives, he seeks to amplify international consciousness of the challenges the Ahwazi Arabs encounter. His prose resonates as a defiant call for a world that upholds the inherent rights of every individual, irrespective of their ethnic roots or background.
