Hal Vash Hal Vash Human Rights Organization (Sistan and Baluchestan)
According to Hale Vash, on Saturday, October 12, 2021, the Etemad newspaper announced the issuance of death sentences for three defendants, including two men and one woman, on charges of "membership in the ISIS group." According to the media outlet, the individuals were involved in the explosion of a passenger bus on September 5, 2021, an incident that resulted in the death of a one-and-a-half-year-old child.
The report identified the suspects as "Nasim", "Arsalan" and "Hassan", but based on the investigation, and after the publication of this news, it was determined that the woman identified was Ms. Nasimah Islamzai, a Baluch citizen from Sistan and Baluchestan, and one of the men was Arsalan Sheikhi, from one of the Kurdish provinces of the country. The exact identity of the third suspect, named "Hassan", is not yet known.
According to information obtained, Nasimeh Eslamzai and her husband Arsalan Sheikhi, along with their young child, were arrested in September 1402 in Malard County, Tehran Province, and transferred to Zahedan for interrogation. At the time of their arrest, security sources accused them of “carrying weapons” and “being members of the ISIS group.” After initial interrogations, the family was transferred to Tehran and their case was eventually referred to the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
The Etemad newspaper wrote in its report: "Based on investigations, two men and a woman from the bus were the perpetrators of the explosion. Investigations have shown that Arsalan joined the ISIS group and his wife Nasim also collaborated with him. The third suspect has been identified as a person named Hassan who makes homemade bombs."
The report adds that Arsalan refused to comment during the interrogation and court sessions, saying that he did not recognize the Islamic Republic, but Nasim and Hassan confessed under pressure. These individuals were ultimately sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court on charges of "war on terror and acting against national security." They were also tried in Branch 10 of the Tehran Criminal Court on charges of "involuntary manslaughter of a child" during the explosion.
According to HRANA, Nasimeh Eslamzai was transferred from the security detention center to the women's ward of Evin Prison on March 4, 1402, but after the Israeli missile attack on the Evin Prison compound, she was transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin. Her husband Arsalan Sheikhi was also held in the Greater Tehran Prison for a while, and currently, there is no information about his exact location.
Nasima Islamzai is about 41 years old and the mother of two young daughters. Her youngest child, Aisha, who was about two years old at the time of her arrest, was separated from her mother and handed over to the welfare department. After the family followed up, custody of her was returned to them.
The Baluch woman also gave birth to her second child, Tasnim, in Evin Prison in early May 1403. She and her newborn were held in a solitary cell for 40 days in extremely poor conditions, without adequate ventilation or light, and then transferred to the quarantine ward.
Keeping a mother and baby in such conditions, from a human and legal perspective, is a clear violation of human dignity and contrary to the minimum principles of prisoners' rights and children's rights, and puts both their physical and mental health at serious risk.