Jailed Iranian dissident rapper Saman Yasin, who was detained during the nationwide protests in Iran last year, says he has endured mock executions, beatings, and other forms of torture while in prison on a charge to which he was forced to admit guilt.
In an audio file released by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network on August 23, Yasin detailed harrowing accounts of physical and psychological torture he says he has endured since being taken into custody. He also says prison officials threatened to harm his family if he didn't admit to being involved in the shooting of a paramilitary officer during the protests.
In the audio clip, the second one he has released in the past two months, Yasin says he was transferred to the Amin Abad Psychiatric Hospital, tied to a bed, and drugged.
"I was forcibly tied to the hospital bed by some prison soldiers and prison personnel. My hands were handcuffed and my feet were bound. I was given an injection in the arm and I was unconscious for 24 hours," he said.
Yasin was arrested by security forces during nationwide protests in 2022. Initial reports suggested he was first taken to a local police station before being transferred to Evin prison and subsequently to the Greater Tehran prison.
The judiciary's news agency reported that Yasin was accused of "waging war against God," a charge that led to a death sentence from the Tehran Revolutionary Court. However, the Supreme Court has since accepted Yasin's appeal for a retrial and referred his case back to the Revolutionary Court.
A source with direct knowledge of the situation told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that before the first court session, the appointed lawyer asked Yasin to "take the blame for a shooting to have his life spared."
Yasin describes a "mock execution" set up by prison officials that he endured before being moved to the Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, along with two other detainees, Mohsen Shekari and Mohammad Boroghani. Shekari was executed in December shortly after his transfer.
Yasin lamented the lack of access to his appointed lawyer, accusing his public defender of being unresponsive. In a letter made public recently, the rapper had pleaded for a meeting with his legal representative and access to his case files ahead of a court hearing scheduled for September.
Over recent months, Yasin has consistently maintained his innocence, releasing multiple audio files to publicize his claims. He has also reportedly launched at least one hunger strike in protest.
Since the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in custody after she was detained for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly, Iranians have flooded the streets across the country to protest a lack of rights, with women and schoolgirls making unprecedented shows of support in the biggest threat to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.
The judiciary, at the urging of lawmakers, has instituted harsh penalties, including the death sentence, for offenders.
Meanwhile, judges have also recently begun sending offenders to psychiatric centers as part of their punishment, a move prominent psychiatry boards in Iran have said is an abuse of judicial authority.