On February 1, imprisoned civil activist Ali Musa-Nejad Farkoosh went on hunger strike and refused to take his medicine as a way of demanding freedom for political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, he was sent on furlough for treatment, however, on October 27, 2021, he was forced to return to Rajai Shahr Prison despite the treatment remaining unfinished. Recently, forensic medicine confirmed that he prisoner suffers from acute diseases that require surgery.
On January 10, 2019, the security forces arrested Farkoosh before releasing him until the end of legal proceedings.
In June 2019, the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, headed by Judge Moghayeseh, sentenced Farkoosh to eight years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion to act against national security”, “an offensive statement against the current and former supreme leaders of Iran” and “propaganda against the regime”. This verdict was upheld by Branch 36 of Tehran’s Court of Appeals. Grounded on Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, the severest punishment of five years for the count of “assembly and collusion” is enforceable.
On November 29, 2020, he was sent to Rajai Shahr Prison to serve his sentence.
In Iran’s prisons, hunger strikes are common among prisoners despite causing long-term physical and mental impairment. Hunger strikes are used as a last resort to achieve urgent demands such as unlawful long-term detention without trials, violations of prisoners’ rights and infringement in due process.
