Journalist Abolfazl Abedini has been exiled back to Ahvaz after testifying about the torture of Sattar Beheshti.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Abedini has been exited from Ward 350 evin to be exiled to Ahvaz prison after testifying about the torture of Sattar Beheshti. Abedini has said he will begin hunger strike in protest of his exile.

Abedini, 29, who wrote about labor issues for the provincial weekly, Bahar Ahvaz, was arrested in Ahvaz on March 3, 2010, and transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran.

An Ahvaz court sentenced Abedini to 11 years in prison on anti-state charges that included having “contact with enemy states,” the reformist news website Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz reported in April 2011. Abedini was not represented by a lawyer at trial. When Abedini appealed, a Khuzestan provincial appellate court would not allow a defense lawyer to present arguments. The appeals court upheld the verdict.

In September 2010, Abedini had been beaten at Ahvaz Prison. He was transferred to Tehran’s Evin Prison later that same month. On May 4, 2011, a Revolutionary Court judge sentenced Abedini to an additional year in prison on the charge of “propagating against the regime,”. The basis for the additional charge was not disclosed. Evin Prison and judicial authorities continue to refuse Abolfazl Abedini furlough and in-person visitations with his family.

Source: HRANA