From Iranian Soldier to Prisoner: The Ordeal of Hamidreza Yousefi

The following is a testimony by Hamidreza Yousefi, an Iranian believer in the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light. On December 2022, Hamidreza was arrested in Iran without having committed any crime, but solely based on his belief in his faith. A video testimony on the conditions of his arrest in Iran was published on the Official AROPL Youtube Channel in 2023. Later that year, he joined the 104 members of the religion who tried to cross the Turkish-Bulgarian border and were detained in horrifying conditions.

The story of Hamidreza shows the extent at which religious persecution in Iran and Turkey prevents people from living normal lives without any justification.

“I embraced the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light in May 2021 and took the pledge of allegiance. At that time, I was a soldier in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and I was very afraid that they would find out I had changed my religion. I have suffered many injustices because of this. I tried to flee Iran by air on December 9, 2022, but the Ministry of Intelligence had banned my exit. My passport was confiscated at the airport, and I was given a paper telling me I had to appear before the Religious Court. On December 15, 2022, I was arrested by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence in an operation that, according to their report, involved the collaboration of the Law Enforcement and Highway Police to arrest 15 members of our religion.

There was intense psychological pressure on me there. We could hear the screams of those being tortured, and one prisoner, crying, told me that they had inserted a glass bottle into his body. These things caused extreme psychological stress on me.

The rooms were filled with numerous bright LED strip lights that were on 24/7, making it difficult to sleep. The rooms were very small relative to the number of prisoners. Two or three times a week, we were allowed 15 minutes in a 40-square-meter yard, where we could see the sky through the bars on the ceiling. During interrogations and when outside the room, we were forced to wear blindfolds, which felt terrible.

They forced me to give false confessions and false testimony about the leader of the faith, pressuring me to write lies about him and claim he had ordered immoral acts, which they knew were completely untrue. To secure my release until the court date, the Iranian government took $120,000 from me (10% in cash converted to rials + 90% in house documents). I was released without any family with me, as they had fled earlier, leaving me deeply traumatized. I was under such extreme pressure from the time we started fleeing that I lost 8 kilograms, even though I had little body fat and was muscular.

Hamidreza before his arrest

Hamidreza after his arrest

To save my life, I was forced to flee Iran, and during the escape, I nearly died from frostbite. My fingers hurt for up to three months due to the frostbite, and even touching a phone screen caused pain.

Hamidreza Yousefi (right) and Mohammad Hashem Bazrafshan (left) fled through the snowy mountains of Iran into Turkey

In Turkey, when 104 members of our religion tried to cross the border legally, we were brutally beaten and arrested. We, including women, children, and infants, were imprisoned for over five months (from May 26, 2023 to October 10, 2023). We faced medical and nutritional problems and I became sick several times due to the poor food and conditions there, which were exactly like a prison—or even worse than a prison.

Hamidreza Yousefi amongst the 104 attempting to cross the Turkish-Bulgarian border

In the Gaziantep camp, just because my brother Matin refused to take his hand out of his pocket, all the members of our family were separated and scattered. The camp was full of ISIS members, and I was extremely worried about Matin and Mohammad (my other brother) because they were very young, 15 and 16 years old. I was very anxious and concerned; those days were extremely difficult.

Hamidreza Yousefi along with his family before being imprisoned at the Izmir camp

On June 4, 2024, we were taken in a vehicle to Izmir. We were unaware that Turkish laws state that sitting in a vehicle in our situation could be considered an offence. The Izmir police, after speaking with us, told us we would be released the next day and that there was no problem, but instead they transferred us to the Izmir camp. There, my family and I were imprisoned in hot weather for two months until July 29, 2024. The camp was full of insects, especially bedbugs, which bit us severely.

One day in the Izmir camp, they sprayed poison on our upper floor, and through the ventilation system, it reached the rooms in our hall. Two people lost consciousness, and the others experienced respiratory problems. My mother suffered a lot of respiratory problems, and we were all under pressure. Everyone was sent to the dining hall, but the poison they used there was very dangerous.

We were released in Izmir without any papers or documents. Without identification, no one was willing to rent us a house. We slept outside for one or two nights—though calling it sleep is misleading, as I only managed to sleep for half an hour to an hour, and it was the same for the others. Turkish laws were set up in such a way that no one dared to rent to us, saying there was a fine of about $2,000. The person who did rent to us did it out of humanity; otherwise, we would have remained homeless and displaced for much longer.

Hamidreza and his family in the streets

For two or three months, they did not give us a Kimlik (ID Card), and I do not know what they were afraid of. In January 2026, they did not allow us to open a bank account. The bank employee told me that the Immigration Office had blocked my access to opening a bank account. I told the head of the Immigration Office, ‘If you don’t want me to live in Turkey, I don’t want to live in Turkey either… but I am forced to be here, and I need to open a bank account to live a normal life. Please allow this in your system for me.’ That person yelled at me and still did not grant the permission. It feels as if they do not see us as human beings and do not understand us.

My family wanted to leave Turkey, but they were held back, and only after 10 or 11 days were they able to leave Turkey for the UK. My mother, Matin, and Mohammad were eagerly waiting to leave Turkey, but their hopes were delayed on February 16, and finally, on February 27, 2026, they were able to exit Turkey.

Hamidreza’s mother along with his two brothers

Despite all this evidence, my case was rejected, and I was forced to hire a lawyer. This caused me great psychological stress and anxiety, fearing that, God forbid, my family and I might be deported.”

The lack of opportunities and the systematic religious persecution of AROPL Members in Turkey force them into inadequate living conditions. While some of the 104 believers have found refuge in European countries, many of them, like Hamidreza, are still facing harsh conditions in Turkey, a country that, like Iran, also has an ongoing pattern of persecution against members of the faith. The Divine Just State Magazine will continue to shed light on the persecution of the members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light.