28 Facts About Hossein Ronaghi

Hossein Ronaghi Maleki better known as Hossein Ronaghi is an Iranian human rights activist and blogger.

Hossein Ronaghi spent a total of 6 years in prison since 2009 for his activities.

Hossein Ronaghi was born on 4 July 1985 in Malekan, East Azerbaijan.

Hossein Ronaghi was a computer software engineering student at Arak Azad University.

Hossein Ronaghi was first imprisoned on December 13,2009, for his activities in the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests.

Hossein Ronaghi was in charge of the anti-censorship committee Iran Proxy.

Hossein Ronaghi was re-arrested on 23 February 2022 after criticising the Cyberspace service regulation system that would limit internet access in Iran.

Hossein Ronaghi was quietly arrested along with his brother Hassan on December 13,2009, for renewing proxies that allowed journalists and political activists to circumvent the government's website bans following last year's contested presidential elections.

Hossein Ronaghi was charged with insulting the leadership for his critical blog posts.

Hossein Ronaghi's brother was released from prison a month later with a bail of 80 million tomans.

On March 15,2010, Kayhan whose editor-in-chief is representative of the Supreme Leader of Iran, published a report about Hossein Ronaghi and made heavy accusations against this articles.

On November 20,2010, Ronaghi's case, that faced objections from his lawyers, was sent to the Court of Appeals, and on December 11,2010, the sentence of 15 years of ta'zir imprisonment for Hossein Ronaghi was approved by the 54th branch of the Court of Appeals, and he was sent to Section 350 of Evin Prison.

In prison, Hossein Ronaghi developed a kidney disease and underwent at least four operations.

Hossein Ronaghi was under intense pressure to make a televised confession of his alleged wrongdoing.

Hossein Ronaghi lost a kidney on October 26,2011, due to not being transferred to the hospital on time and not being on sick leave.

Hossein Ronaghi went on an indefinite hunger strike following the intervention of Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in his case and preventing him from receiving sick leave in December 2011.

Hossein Ronaghi then was sent on medical leave in the early summer of 2015 with a bail of one billion and four hundred million tomans.

In January 2016, Hossein Ronaghi was reported to be back in Evin prison after a period of medical parole that had been granted in June 2015.

The first news of Hossein Ronaghi's re-arrest came up on February 23,2022, when the media first reported the disappearance of Hossein Ronaghi and then his arrest by security forces.

On February 27,2022, Hossein Ronaghi finally called his family, informing them that he had gone on dry hunger strike immediately after arrest.

On March 3,2022, Hossein Ronaghi was temporarily released on bail while the charges of "propaganda against the regime" and "congegrating and colluding against national security" remain in place for further proceedings.

Hossein Ronaghi promised to go to the Evin Courthouse in the following week with his lawyer, and that he would immediately start a dry strike, if arrested.

Hossein Ronaghi's arresting video went viral on social media and his last shout-in-pain words became a symbol of anger of the Mahsa Amini protests against the police brutality.

Hossein Ronaghi started his dry strike from the beginning of entering the prison, and during this time, his family repeatedly expressed concern about his physical weakness.

Later on, it was reported that both of Hossein Ronaghi's legs have been broken, and one of his fingers dislocated without any medical help, and his body gets dragged inside the prison from his solitary confinement station to the interrogation room.

Mizan News Agency which is the official news agency of Judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran said that with the follow-ups, the claims of breaking the legs of Hossein Ronaghi are not true at all and denied the violence despite the video of him getting brutally arrested by the security forces.

Hossein Ronaghi was threatened by the head of Evin courthouse that he will face a fate similar to the late filmmaker and poet, Baktash Abtin, who was killed in prison as a result of medical deprivation.

On November 26,2022, after he was temporarily released on bail from Evin prison and transferred to a hospital in Tehran for treatment, his Brother Hassan, posted two pictures of Hossein Ronaghi lying on bed in a hospital and wrote that Hossein Ronaghi has started his treatment.