The first time I saw Elham after he was released from prison, he still had courage, but his gaze was empty and his body was unkempt. I could cry for years when I remember the torture and the trials that I had to go through in prison”, says Nahid Modarresi, sister of the tortured Iranian artist, Elham Modarresi.
Elham, 33, a native Kurdish painter from Sanandaj, decided to join a peaceful demonstration in Tehran, with her friends, on September 19, 2022. Three days before, the news of the death of the young 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody shocked the country, giving rise to a series of widespread protests. Nahid explains that her sister could not remain still and silent in the face of such an example of State cruelty against women. "That day I told him that I loved him but that I couldn't prevent him from going to the demonstration. And he left, with complete peace of mind."
On November 2, security agents broke into her home in Karak, a town near the capital, and arrested her for violence for taking part in anti-regime demonstrations. They blindfolded him, threatened his 65-year-old mother at gunpoint and forced her into a car. The artist was taken to an unspecified location and subsequently to Kachoui prison, along with other demonstrators of the Women, Life and Freedom movement.
In prison, Elham suffered physical and psychological torture for two months, according to his sister. "They beat her - she claims - and psychologically tortured her by lying to her so that she thought that her mother and her brother were also arrested in the adjacent cell. The security officers threatened to rape her. In addition, they denied him access to the medication he had to take, as well as contact with a lawyer. In prison, his health worsened, but the authorities didn't care."
After two months, he was granted provisional release. Elham took the opportunity to leave the country in the direction of Turkey, where his sister was waiting for him. Her health worsened and she was admitted to an emergency department due to her loss of blood. "His situation is critical - adds his sister -. He urgently needs a liver transplant. There is no medical care in Iran's prison, even if you have a cold or the flu. And the conditions are so horrible and the food so bad that you can contract chronic diseases. Detention and torture worsened his situation. His life is in danger and time is running out."
In a bid to save her life, Nahid has fought endlessly to get a liver transplant and money for medical expenses. "For months - he concludes - I have walked the corridors of hospitals and slept in waiting rooms, with the faith I have in saving his life. It is not only about his struggle, but that of hundreds of Iranians who lost their lives defending freedom against the regime of the Islamic Republic”.
According to human rights groups, around 500 people have lost their lives in the protests, including 70 children, and many remain in prison without access to a lawyer or medical care.
