HRANA News Agency – Habib Sasanian, Ardabili poet, despite his illness and lack of proper treatment, is still being held in Tabriz Central Prison. After about a year of uncertainty, a bail of one billion IRR was issued for this prisoner, but as he is not able to provide it, he has to stay in detention.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), Habib Sasanian was arrested along with five Turk (Azeri) activists in Ardabil, on May 15, 2016. In July last year, the Chief Justice of East Azerbaijan introduced these activists as “members of 6-member Gamow spying gang”.
A source close to the family of Sasanian told HRANA’s reporter: “Habib was held in Tabriz prison, over a year without charge or on bail, until after a 5-day hunger strike, last week a bail of one billion IRR was issued”.
The source with calling “oppressive” the amount of bail, continued: “Sasanian family are not able to provide such a high bail amount and Habib has to remain in the prison with his illness and health condition.”
HRANA had reported earlier that Mr. Sasanian suffered from various diseases and was being deprived of medical care. In February last year, this prisoner had been transferred to Sina hospital in Tabriz, following “deterioration of his health condition”.
Habib Sasanian along with Mehdi Javadzadeh, Hamid Saghafi, Babak Avandi, Esmail Afkhami, and Younes Rahimi, was arrested.
Earlier it was reported that, Mr. Sasanian, who suffers from high blood pressure and eye pain, had several times fainted but he had been saved by other inmates.
This political prisoner has requested medical attention for several times from the officials of Ward 12 in Tabriz prison, but each time has been accused of malingering and has been threatened by being exiled to a worse Ward.
Mozaffari, Chief Justice of East Azerbaijan, claimed that, these people “used to collect the economic and military classified documents and give them to the enemies of the regime”.
HRANA had previously announced that the reason of arresting these activists was related to their activities on “the issue of Karabakh and Armenia”.