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political prisoners

In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, January 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
January 14, 2026, 1:34 am
Iran has aired some 100 forced confessions by anti-regime protesters, activists say
Tehran ups pace of notorious broadcasts amid unrest, with regular references to Israel and US as supposed proof of foreign plots; activists report that confessions follow torture
By Melanie Lidman
Yaakov Harari with his daughter Yael. (Courtesy of the family, via the Foreign Ministry)
January 13, 2026, 6:58 pm
Israeli-Argentinian imprisoned in Venezuela for over a year released, returns home
Yaakov Harari, 72, said to be among 125 accused of serving as US mercenaries last January; Venezuela says release of prisoners part of efforts to ‘seek peace’ with Washington
By Michael Horovitz and Reuters
A worker hangs a banner showing portraits of the late Iranian armed forces commanders, Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, top, Gen. Gholamali Rashid, center, and Gen. Hossein Salami who were killed in Israeli strikes in June at Baharestan Square in Tehran, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
September 25, 2025, 8:21 pm
Female prisoner dies in Iranian jail; rights groups blame authorities’ neglect
Somayeh Rashidi, 42, dies six months after being jailed for writing anti-regime slogans; Iran says death due to earlier illness but NGOs say coma caused by denial of medical care
By AFP and ToI Staff
Rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran, June 24, 2025. (Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency/AP)
June 30, 2025, 1:31 pm
Israel’s strike on Iran’s Evin prison sparks fear for political prisoners
Detainees and their families say conditions for inmates are worse at facilities they were moved to after attack, raise concerns of what authorities might do next
By AP and ToI Staff
US journalist Evan Gershkovich, accused of espionage, looks out from inside a glass defendant's cage prior to a hearing in Yekaterinburg's Sverdlovsk Regional Court on June 26, 2024. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP)
August 1, 2024, 1:50 pm
Major Russia-US prisoner swap, including Evan Gershkovich, could be underway
Jewish-American journalist could be released alongside artists, activists and former senior staffers of late dissident Alexei Navalny
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Hamas terror suspects, caught during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and ensuing war in Gaza, crouch on the ground in the courtyard of a prison in southern Israel, February 14, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
May 27, 2024, 10:42 am
Jailed Nukhba terrorists regularly sexually harass female guards, soldier says
A female reserve soldier details lax security at terrorist detention facility and sexual harassment she has experienced
By ToI Staff
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi attends the closing session of the New Global Financial Pact Summit, in Paris, June 23, 2023. (Lewis Joly/AP)
September 14, 2023, 11:09 am
US withholds $85 million in military aid to Egypt over rights abuses — senator
Letter to congressional committee reportedly says cash will go to Taiwan and Lebanon instead; Democrat Chris Murphy calls for keeping back a further $235 million
By ToI Staff and Agencies
Nahid Taghavi. (Twitter. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
June 4, 2023, 10:41 pm
German held by Iran said to be in life-threatening danger with failing health
Dual citizen Nahid Taghavi, 68, is barely able to move, says activist Narges Mohammadi, who is incarcerated alongside her at Tehran’s Evin prison
By AFP
Mehdi Hashemi, the son of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, addresses the media before entering the Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, August 11, 2015. (YouTube/Screenshot: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
January 18, 2023, 2:45 pm
Former Iranian president Rafsanjani’s son freed after seven years in jail
Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani, 53, was convicted in 2015 of fraud, embezzlement and undermining national security, charges that he has previously denounced as ‘politically motivated’
By AFP
Protesters wear clothes reading 'Free Olivier' during a solidarity demonstration with Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele in Brussels on December 25, 2022. (François Walschaerts/AFP)
January 10, 2023, 10:09 pm
Belgium summons Iran envoy after aid worked sentenced to 40 years, lashes
Olivier Vandecasteele, 41, has been detained in an Iranian prison for months and has been on a hunger strike; his family says he is suffering from serious health problems
By AP
Nahid Taghavi. (Twitter. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
November 13, 2022, 11:57 pm
Iran sends German-Iranian activist on medical leave back to prison
Daughter of Nahid Taghavi says her mother didn’t complete her treatment, but that she is returning to Evin Prison ‘with her head held high’
By AFP
Anna (Anya) Pavlikova on trial in Moscow, Russia. She was found guilty of being a member of the so-called New Greatness movement and planning to violently overthrow President Vladimir Putin's government.
June 23, 2022, 8:39 pm
Documentary filmmaker casts lens on Russian teen allegedly framed by Putin’s regime
After fleeing to safety in Israel, director Anna Shishova completes ‘The New Greatness Case,’ portraying Russian use of cyber-entrapment against youth calling for more freedom
By Renee Ghert-Zand
Egyptian journalist Mohamed Salah talks on the phone in Cairo following his release from the police station in al-Abassya district, on April 24, 2022. (Mohamed EL-RAAI / AFP)
April 24, 2022, 10:06 pm
Egypt releases 41 political prisoners ahead of Eid, says negotiator
More detainees expected to be released ahead of next week’s holiday, but thousands more likely to remain locked up on charges like spreading ‘false news’
By AFP
Illustrative: A prisoner being held in an Iranian prison. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
October 25, 2021, 2:57 pm
‘A cornerstone of repression’: Fresh claims raise fears over Iran prison abuses
A slew of recent allegations concerning high-profile detainees and claims disseminated on social media have amplified anxiety about treatment of prisoners in the Islamic Republic
By Stuart Williams
One of fourteen Egyptians, who refused to be identified, on trial on charges of receiving illicit foreign funds to operate unlicensed NGOs, leaves a cage in a court room in the capital Cairo, March 8, 2012. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)
December 7, 2020, 8:57 am
Decade after Arab Spring, vast numbers of political detainees languish in prison
Autocratic regimes still in power, cracking down on dissent in Egypt and Syria, where thousands have died in custody and more harbor scant hopes of freedom
By AFP
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