Esmail Bakhshi, one of the protesting workers of Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane Company who was arrested and heavily tortured in prison, has challenged the minister of Intelligence to answer his questions on a live TV program.

On his Instagram page, Bakhshi says: “After 25 days of arrest, I am now forced to use psychoactive medication.”

Bakhshi says: “From the time they arrested me, they started to beat me almost to death without any reason or even uttering a word.”

He continues: “They beat me up so hard that I could not move in my cell for 72 hours, and even sleeping was painful. Today, after almost two months since that day, I still feel pain in my broken ribs, kidneys, left ear, and testicles. The interesting thing was that the torturers called themselves the Anonymous Soldiers of the Messiah.”

Bakhshi also asks the minister of intelligence: “As someone who is a cleric, I ask you, what is the moral, humanitarian, and Islamic verdict of torturing a prisoner? Is it OK? How much of it?

He also refers to the Intelligence ministry pressures on his family and continues: “More than the torture, what bothers my family and me is you listening to all our conversations. My interrogator said they even knew how many times my wife and I fought because of my political activism…. As a cleric, I ask you, what is the moral, humanitarian, and Islamic verdict on listening to the most private conversations between a husband and wife?”

In the end, Bakhshi challenges the minister of Intelligence to a live debate on TV.

Esmail Bakhshi was arrested along with 17 other Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane company workers. He was released on a bail of 4 billion rials.