Hasti Mahdavi: They broke my fingers in Japan

Hasti Mahdavifar, a movie actor, narrated a bitter experience during his trip to Japan; A trip which, according to him, was accompanied by an attack in the elevator of the Fossa train station, an unsuccessful follow-up of a complaint, a dispute with a Japanese photographer over the publication of pictures, and a conflict with immigration and airport officials. He says that after months of follow-up from different channels, from the Japanese police and the legal institutions of that country to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has not yet reached a clear result and that's why

According to ambassador Arjan; In his account of his trip to Japan, Hasti Mahdavifar says that at first he was not very interested in this trip. About six months before the trip, he was involved in coordinating his older brother's education and language course in Japan; He had guaranteed him and rented a house for him. In the same period, he received two invitations from Japan. One from a film festival where his work was noticed and the other from Leslie Kay, a Japanese photographer associated with the fashion magazine "SUPER Magazine", to participate in a fashion photography project.

Mahdavifar says that he did not accept the invitation of the festival, but decided to accept the invitation of the photographer. He arrived in Japan on September 4, 2024, and the photography was supposed to be done on the sixth or seventh day of the same month; However, according to him, the photographer arrived about a month and a half late, and this delay caused him to stay longer in Japan.

attack in the elevator of the Fossa train station; Night to morning at the Akishima Police

Mahdavifar says that at midnight on September 17, 2024, in the elevator of Fussa Station, a young Japanese man was attacked. According to him, it was around 11:30 at night and the trains had stopped. He was only one stop away from his home and needed directions to find the exit and reach the street. The young man had told her that he was following her, thinking that he was going to help her and wanted to show her a way, but he attacked her in the elevator at the same subway station and then fled the place on a bicycle.

The actor says that after the incident, he asked someone on the street to call the police. With the presence of the officers, due to the language barrier, it took hours to explain the story and he had to use the Google translation tool to convey his statements. According to Mahdavifar, after the presence of several officers and repeated questions, he was transferred to the Akishima Police Station; where he spent the night until morning.

Mahdavifar says that he repeatedly asked the police to check the CCTV footage of the elevator, because he believed that the footage could help identify the attacker. He also provided officers with a description of the person's appearance, clothing, and bicycle, but according to him, neither the camera images were reviewed nor a hypothetical image of the attacker was created.

He says that in the next two visits to follow up on the case, he was met with different answers. In the first visit, according to him, the officers announced that there is no case against him; But in the next visit, with the help of an English-speaking person, he was told that the case has been registered and is being investigated. Mahdavifar says that despite the passage of time, he did not receive any clear answer about the fate of the camera images or the outcome of his complaint.

Aggravation of the disease and publication of images without permission

Mahdavifar says that the mental and physical pressure caused by this incident aggravated his previous illness, Fibromyalgia Syndrome, and he struggled with pain at home for about two weeks. Later, he went to one of the administrative centers in Tokyo to explain his physical condition, and he says that he had used a sign related to health status to identify a disease that is not visible from the outside; However, according to him, the staff of the Immigration Department did not pay attention to this situation.

Another part of Mahdavifar's narrative is related to his photography collaboration with Leslie Kay. He says that there was no written contract for this project and his pictures were published in the magazine and Instagram stories without his permission. According to the actor, he was not paid for this collaboration, and after trying to follow up on the matter, the photographer turned off his phone and was no longer available.

This part of the narrative is separate from the story of the attack and the police complaint, and to clarify the dimensions of the dispute, it is necessary to get an explanation from the photographer and the media where the images were published.

Flight cancellation and conflict over stay extension

Mahdavifar says that after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and disruption of flights, it was not possible for him to return to Iran as planned. For this reason, he had to go to the Immigration Office to extend and determine his residence status.

He narrates that in this visit, he faced insulting treatment from the staff and they even offered him asylum; According to Mahdavifar, he did not accept the offer because he wanted to return to Iran. He says that during this encounter, they threw his Iranian passport on the ground and kicked it.

Mahdavifar says that until then, he did not know exactly how to go to the Iranian Embassy in Tokyo. About a month and a half after the attack, one of his foreign friends or neighbors suggested him to go to the embassy. He says that after visiting, contrary to the experience he had from some Japanese institutions, he was met with a positive attitude by the staff of the Iranian embassy.

According to Mahdavifar, the embassy has helped him in getting the medicine he needs, following up on the issue of residence and providing him with a ticket to leave Japan. He says, because the direct flight to Iran was still facing problems, he planned to return to the country via Dubai.

Banned from leaving at the airport and two broken fingers

Mahdavifar says that when he tried to leave Japan through the airport, he was told that he was not allowed to leave; However, according to him, he was not given a clear reason for this decision. He narrates that during this incident, a female officer twisted his fingers and pushed him to the ground; As a result of this collision, his leg was injured and two of his fingers were broken.

The actor says that with the follow-up and intervention of the Iranian embassy, ​​he was finally able to leave Japan and return to Iran a few days later. His account of the ban, the officer's treatment, and the physical injury would require an independent assessment of medical records, travel documents, and explanations from the Japanese authorities.

Follow up from the Embassy of Japan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran

Mahdavifar says that after returning to Iran, with the help of his lawyer, he tried to pursue the issue through the Japanese embassy in Tehran, but according to him, he did not receive an effective and clear answer. He also says that he has been pursuing the issue from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran for about five to six months and has called many times.

According to Mahdavifar, during these follow-ups, he spoke with a person named Metin Razm and their conversation lasted for about two hours. He says that this person had promised to convey the matter to the relevant authorities and the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mahdavifar narrates that later a meeting was supposed to be held to follow up on the issue, but the meeting was canceled due to holding an urgent meeting and no new date was set for it.

He says that he even went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in person, but he was not allowed to enter and he did not receive the same answers about the presence of the relevant official.

Correspondence with the human rights organization of Japan

Mahdavifar says that he has also corresponded with the Human Rights Protection Department of the Tokyo Legal Affairs Department to follow up on the issue. According to him, this institution initially asked for more information about the incident and he also sent the requested details; But he was further informed that this institution is not required to investigate the matter.

Mahdavifar says that he considered this answer inconsistent with the explanations he had seen on the organization's website about its activities. However, to clarify the limits of this body's legal jurisdiction and whether it was primarily responsible for investigating his case, it is necessary to examine the text of the correspondence and its official response.

"If this is not a violation of human rights, then what is?"

Mahdavifar says that after nearly two years of trying to pursue the issue from different directions, he has decided to publish a video on his Instagram page so that his story can be heard. He poses his main question as follows: "If all these things that I experienced during my trip to Japan are not examples of human rights violations, then what are examples of human rights violations?"