Seyed Jaber Alboushoukeh

On Wednesday, April 3, 2024, Seyyed Jaber Alboshokhe, a married man with one son, a cultural activist, and a member of the Al-Hiwar Cultural Institute, who is from and resides in Khuzestan Province and is a political prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment in Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz, is in need of medical services and transfer to a specialized medical center outside the prison due to continued denial of access to medical services and worsening vision problems caused by a pterygium eye condition. This political prisoner is currently serving the fourteenth year of his life sentence.

A source familiar with the health condition of this political prisoner reported that the continued deprivation of Seyyed Jaber Alboshokhe from access to medical services and the right to treatment is ongoing. The pterygium in his left eye has resulted in redness and blurred vision, and the only action taken by Sheiban Prison authorities has been to send him to the prison infirmary and prescribe sterile eye drops. The infirmary doctor advised him during his last visit that he needs to see an ophthalmologist for specialized examinations and will likely require surgery to remove the pterygium, but the prosecutor and the intelligence department in Ahvaz have prevented his transfer to a specialized medical center outside the prison. Until permission is granted for his release, prison authorities cannot transfer the prisoner.

The source further added that since Seyyed Jaber Alboshokhe's sentence is life imprisonment, approval for his leave request has been contingent on providing bail exceeding 10 billion tomans. However, due to the family's inability to provide such a guarantee, he has been deprived of the right to leave.

Pterygium is a benign tumor within the eye tissue that begins at the corner of the eye near the nose and grows towards the cornea. The growth of this mass, caused by poor living conditions and continuous exposure to intense sunlight, heat, and polluted air, can lead to vision problems such as double vision and blurred vision.

It is noteworthy that in March 2011, Seyyed Jaber Alboshokhe, along with Mokhtar Alboshokhe, his brother, Mohammad Ali Amouri Nejad, Rahman Asakereh, Hashem Shabani, and Hadi Rashedi, was arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan Province. They were transferred to the detention center of this security agency and subjected to severe interrogations without access to legal counsel due to their membership in the Al-Hiwar Cultural Group, which involved teaching poor children through sessions in Arabic, poetry, and storytelling.

After the interrogations and preliminary investigations, Seyyed Jaber Alboshokhe, along with his brother Mokhtar Alboshokhe, Mohammad Ali Amouri Nejad, Rahman Asakereh, Hashem Shabani, and Hadi Rashedi, was sentenced to death in July 2012 on charges of "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth," and to 15 years of imprisonment each for charges of "gathering and colluding to disrupt national security," "forming a group to disrupt national security," and "propaganda against the regime." However, in July 2012, while their death sentence was confirmed, a judicial directive reduced their sentence to life imprisonment.

This political prisoner was transferred to Sheiban Central Prison in Ahvaz after the closure of Karun Prison in Ahvaz, where he was serving his life sentence.

Seyyed Jaber Alboshokhe was subjected to an unfair process of interrogation, investigation, and trial, during which he endured various forms of torture, including being placed under the hot summer sun of Khuzestan and tied to a pole.

During the interrogations, this cultural activist was deprived of the right to contact his family and even access to a lawyer, and his family was unaware of his whereabouts for months.

*Translated on 2026-03-14*