HRANA – Fatemeh Sepehri, a political prisoner held in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, has been on strike since Wednesday, June 17, in protest against the authorities’ disregard for her demands. Following a visit with the political prisoner today, her family expressed concern over her physical condition.
According to HRANA, political prisoner Fatemeh Sepehri is in the seventh day of her hunger strike.
Ali Sepehri, her brother, stated that Ms. Sepehri began a hunger strike and medication strike on Wednesday, June 17, in protest against what she described as insults, harassment, and mistreatment by Fariba Hatampour, the internal manager of the women’s ward at Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad. He added that during this period, the prison authorities’ only action has been to transfer her daily to the infirmary and administer glucose IV fluids. During today’s visit, her family described Fatemeh Sepehri’s physical condition as alarming.
According to Mr. Sepehri, despite the family’s repeated efforts to secure a suspension of her sentence or medical leave, none of the authorities have responded to the situation.
In March 2025, Fatemeh Sepehri was sentenced to prison in a joint case with her brother, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, by Branch Five of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad. Each of them received a sentence of three years and nine months in prison. The case relates to a letter the two political prisoners published from Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad on December 26, 2024.
In June 2024, Fatemeh Sepehri, in another joint case with her brothers Mohammad Hossein and Hossein Sepehri, was sentenced to 18 years and six months in prison.
Previously, in March 2023, the Criminal Court of Mashhad sentenced Fatemeh Sepehri to one year of discretionary imprisonment and a fine of 20 million tomans on charges of spreading falsehoods and disturbing public opinion.
In another case, Fatemeh Sepehri was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of cooperating with hostile states. She was also sentenced to five years for assembly and collusion, two years for insulting the Supreme Leader, and one year for propaganda against the state. These sentences were upheld on appeal. Under Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, 10 years of these sentences are enforceable.
Ms. Sepehri is one of the signatories of the letter calling for the resignation of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. For this reason, she was initially sentenced by Branch Four of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad to five years of discretionary imprisonment. The sentence was later reduced on appeal to three years and six months. She was subsequently released from prison in 2020 under a five-year suspended sentence arrangement.
