February 13, 2023
In late November, three Iranian doctors traveled to the country’s western Kurdistan region, the epicenter of ongoing antiestablishment protests, to help treat wounded demonstrators.
But within days of
their arrival, the medical professionals were arrested on security charges.
Before they were released on bail last month, the three men were tortured in
custody, informed sources told RFE/RL.
The men were charged
with “disrupting national security” and “committing crimes against the
country’s internal and external security” due to their attempts to treat
“rioters,” a term the authorities have used to refer to antiestablishment
protesters.
