Mahmoudian, a political journalist and blogger, was serving a five-year prison term on charges of “mutiny against the regime” for his role in documenting complaints of rape and abuse of detainees at the Kahrizak Detention Center, reformist news websites reported.
The detention center was closed in July 2009 after Mahmoudian and others documented the pervasive abuse. Mahmoudian also worked with journalist Emadeddin Baghi at the Center for the Defense of Prisoners’ Rights.
Held at Rajaee Shahr Prison, Mahmoudian was in poor health and suffering from kidney ailments, according to the German public news organization Deutsche Welle. Mahmoudian’s mother, Fatemeh Alvandi, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran in April 2011 that her son developed epilepsy while in prison and was in dire physical and psychological condition. Mahmoudian was hospitalized in October 2011 but returned to prison the next month, according to reformist news websites.
In January 2012, Mahmoudian was severely beaten by prison guards and interrogators inside the prison ward for writing letters to authorities reporting prison abuse, according to the reformist news website Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz. Mahmoudian passed out as a result of the beatings and was transferred to the Evin Prison infirmary, where he underwent treatment. In March 2012, Mahmoudian was returned to Rajaee Shahr Prison, according to reformist news websites.