According to the Balochistan Human Rights Group, on Sunday, April 6, 2025, Adel Gorgij, a 22-year-old Baloch citizen who was arrested by Zahedan intelligence forces during the popular protests in October 2022, and was sentenced in an opaque trial to 10 years of exile in Ardabil prison and 3 months of discretionary imprisonment after enduring severe torture, has been granted a 20-day furlough after posting a bail worth billions of tomans. He returned to his residence in Zahedan on Monday, April 7.
Adel Gorgij, the son of Abdolrahim, is from the Bozorgmehr area of Zahedan. He was arrested on October 9, 2022, while driving his personal vehicle from Khash to Zahedan, at the entrance to the city by intelligence agents, and was transferred to the detention center of the agency. On January 29, 2023, while still in detention, he was severely tortured and fell into a critical condition. Following his arrest and during interrogation, the Zahedan Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Hossein Ghanbari and under the supervision of investigator Hossein Seyed Abadi, sentenced him on June 30, 2023, to 10 years of exile in Ardabil prison and 3 months of imprisonment for “waging war against God and causing unrest.”
In Ardabil prison, Adel served his sentence under poor physical and mental conditions, alongside two other Baloch prisoners, Ali Ahmad Berichi and Hossein Kashani, who were also arrested in connection with the Zahedan protests. Adel reportedly suffered severe psychological distress during his imprisonment and developed a speech impediment, heart disease, and serious mental health issues, to the point that continuing his incarceration was deemed impossible. Before his arrest, he was the sole breadwinner for his family, and his mother has also fallen ill.
Sources close to Adel Gorgij’s family had previously reported his dire condition in Zahedan Central Prison, before his transfer to Ardabil. According to these reports, he was held in Ward 9 and repeatedly tortured in solitary confinement.
It is worth noting that Adel Gorgij, Ali Ahmad Berichi, and Hossein Kashani Asl, all friends of Khodanour Lajai, were arrested and subjected to torture and interrogation by intelligence forces in the days following the October 2022 protests in Zahedan. The judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran sentenced them to harsh punishments and exile in Ardabil prison without adhering to fair trial standards.
The authorities’ disregard for the health and urgent needs of political prisoners, particularly those exiled to prisons far from their hometowns, is a clear example of the security-driven and repressive approach taken toward the Baloch people and protestors in Balochistan. This neglect not only inflicts severe physical and psychological harm on the prisoners but also plunges their families into deep economic and emotional crises.
