Vahid Afkari er vokset op i en familie med et tæt familiesammenhold. Han nyder at læse, synge og danse derhjemme med sine brødre Habib and Navid.
I 2016, 2017 og 2018 deltog Vahid, Navid og Habib i fredelige demonstrationer mod ulighed og politisk undertrykkelse i deres hjemby Shiraz.
Den 17. september 2018 blev Vahid og Navid anholdt derhjemme for at deltage i demonstrationerne. Tre måneder senere blev Habib også anholdt. De iranske myndigheder holdt de tre brødre isolationsfængslet, torturerede dem og tvang dem til at ”tilstå” den kriminalitet, de gentagne gange sagde, de ikke havde begået. Vahid og Navid blev dømt på falske anklager om mord. Myndighederne dømte Navid til døden, og Habib og Vahid til årtier i fængsel samt 74 piskeslag.
Navid blev henrettet uden, at han selv, hans familie eller hans advokater blev underrettet på forhånd. Navids henrettelse førte til vrede og forargelse i Iran og hele verden og arbejdet for retfærdighed for Vahid og Habib tog til. I marts 2022 blev Habib løsladt fra fængslet efter 550 dage i isolationsfængsel.
Myndighederne har holdt Vahid isolationsfængslet siden september 2020. Han er fuldstændigt isoleret fra andre fanger. Det er en straf fordi, han ikke vil give efter for myndighedernes krav om offentligt at tage afstand fra personer i Iran og i resten af verden, som har ønsket retfærdighed for hans familie.
Bed Iran om at løslade Vahid fra fængslet.
Vahid Afkari comes from a close-knit family. He enjoyed reading, singing and dancing at home with his brothers Habib and Navid.
In 2016, 2017 and 2018 Vahid, Navid and Habib peacefully joined protests in their hometown of Shiraz about inequality and political repression.
On 17 September 2018, Vahid and Navid were arrested at their home for protesting. Three months later, Habib was also arrested. The Iranian authorities held the three brothers in solitary confinement, tortured them, and forced them to “confess” to crimes they repeatedly said they did not commit. Vahid and Navid were convicted of a baseless accusation involving murder. The authorities sentenced Navid to death, and Habib and Vahid to decades in prison and 74 lashes.
On 12 September 2020, Vahid could hear the guards taking Navid away and beating him. He then heard a sudden sound which he thought was someone being hanged.
Navid was executed, without any warning. Navid’s execution led to outrage in Iran and throughout the world and the fight for Vahid and Habib’s freedom grew. Habib was released from prison in March 2022, after spending 550 days in solitary confinement.
The authorities have been cruelly holding Vahid in solitary confinement since September 2020. He is totally isolated from other prisoners, as a punishment for not bending to the authorities’ demands to publicly make statements against people in Iran and around the world who have sought justice for his family.
Tell Iran to free Vahid