In the Name of God.

I extend you my greetings and best wishes for success for accepting this humanitarian task.

I am Dr. Mohammad Maleki, a retired university professor and the first president of Tehran University after Iran’s 1979 revolution.  I want to make you aware of a fraction of the gross violations of human rights in Iran to perhaps make it a step in the direction of rescuing our nation from all this cruelty, corruption and merciless acts against a victim nation caused by its rulers.

Brother, Mr. Shahid

I too have been one of thousands of people whose human rights during the last 32 years have been repeatedly violated by the power-mongering and despotic rulers. I have been witness to many crimes in Iranian prisons some of which I will mention here.

In 1979 after the revolution and after being appointed as the president of Tehran University, I used all my power to fulfill one of the goals of the revolution so that the university and its colleges would be run by a council comprising of teachers, students and administrative staff elected through a democratic process. But this was not to the liking of the rulers who had taken control of all affairs of the country. They staged a coup d’état, which they called the “cultural revolution,” by attacking the universities and killing a number of students, injuring many and arresting some, after which they shut the institutions, and arrested many protesting individuals affiliated with universities whom they extensively tortured and finally executed. The Management Council of Tehran University and the Supreme Council of Universities which managed the institutions of higher education rose to oppose this but instead of addressing their issues, the regime arrested a number of their members, which included me, and on the pretext of opposing the leader (ayatollah Khomeini), and sent them to prison. I was tried in an illegal court and without the presence of an attorney, and initially sentenced to death and subsequently to 10 years of prison. During my term I was subjected to the most cruel actions that included the beating of my feet and other parts of the body by wire cable, being hanged from the ceiling, hitting my head against a wall, fist beatings and kicks which resulted in loss of my left eye and the breaking of my right wrist, plus other forms of torture. I still carry the scars of those tortures on my body. After 5 years, I was released from prison in form, but for many months to come I had to present myself to a representative of the prosecutor to be interrogated again, an act that by itself was a form of torture.

I was arrested again in 2000, along with tens of national-religious activists, on the pretext of “subversion” and was subjected to six months of solitary confinement (in a 3 foot by 6 foot cell) in one of the most dreadful prisons of the Revolutionary Guards (in Eshratabad, Tehran). Lawyers and psychologists call time in such cells as “white torture.” After being subjected to about seven months of (white torture) prison, I was released in preparation for trial and then tried by an illegal and secret court and sentenced to seven years of suspended prison.

On August 22, 2009 while I was suffering from prostate cancer, heart arrhythmia, high blood pressure, undergoing chemo therapy, and suffered from my heart condition, agents from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence raided my home and after inspecting my house and confiscating a large number of my books, pulled out of my bed and took me directly to the ward under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence (i.e., Ward 209) of Evin prison and kept me in a solitary cell for three months. During my interrogations, they subjected me to all kinds of insults and humiliation, and charged me with moharebeh (being at a state of war with God) and insulting Mr. Khomeini and Mr. Khamenei (leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran) simply because of my writings and remarks.

Finally, after spending 191 days in prison, they gave me wellbeing leave because of my serious health condition for which I had been transferred to hospital several times, to continue my chemo therapy and have a heart pacer installed in my body.

I have again recently been summoned to a secret court, which is against even the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for the judge to hand his judgment. I am now spending very harsh and torturous days awaiting my sentence. Even though I am a 78-year old man and sick, am still prepared to bear any sentence because I have been and am committed to fighting cruelty and injustice committed by rulers and power holders of Iran. I rely on God and people and do not fear any consequence; I wish to meet you and describe the realities that have befallen on Iran in the last three decades and the cruelty that has been imposed on this nation.

Excellency Dr. Shahid

I will testify how during the 1980s young and student prisoners, men and women, were executed in tens and hundreds every night after brutal tortures and how they sang hymns as they were taken away. I desire to describe to you what I have witnessed in the prisons of this religious state and will face the consequences.

In conclusion, as an Iranian I wish you success in your work. You can be certain that God is with you.

Respectfully and I await meeting you

Dr Mohammad Maleki

Political prisoner in suspension and

Former professor of Tehran University

September 2011