Ali Kantouri

UPDATE: (15 October 2008) Ali Kantouri was arrested by the Intelligence Ministry of Qazvin on 14 January 2008. He has been a civil society activist in Qazvin, promoting the rights of women and children, working for the establishment of organizations to assist those addicted to substances, and being a supporter of the Freedom and Equality Seeking student group. After being in custody in the Qazvin Intelligence Ministry detention center for one day, Ali was taken to Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran. For three weeks he was kept in solitary confinement and tortured so severely that several of his ribs were broken. Ali also suffers from asthma and while in custody he was denied his medication, further complicating his health problems. He was subsequently transferred to Qazal Haser Prison in Karaj and put in a ward with violent offenders. After 133 days in custody, Ali was released on $156,403 (1.5 billion Rial) bail on 25 May 2008. Ali’s trial took place in Branch 2 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court on 26 August 2008. The court has yet to issue a sentence.

Ali Kantouri, arrested on November 3, 2008, is a student activist. He is held in Evin prison. Kantouri and more than 60 other students were arrested during a nationwide sweep between November 2007 and January 2008.

In February and March, the authorities released most of the detainees, but only after collecting heavy bail amounts in the range of 500 million-2 billion Rials ($55,000-$220,000). As of March 5, 2008, Kantouri and five other students remained in detention.