Human Rights Activist News Agency(HRANA) – Hatam Ertoghlu, an ailing 70-year-old prisoner of Turkish nationality, was transferred to the Urmia Central Prison clinic following an exacerbation of his cardiac disease.
Ertoghlu has been on hunger strike since Friday, November 9th, when Iranian authorities welshed on their agreement to transfer him back to Turkey. Authorities have refused entry to a representative of the Turkish consulate who came to Urmia Central requesting to see him, a close source told HRANA.
Currently held in Ward 4-3, Ertoghlu has been behind bars for the past nine years on drug-related charges. According to a close source, he has had multiple hospital admissions for various ailments, not least of which was a heart attack.
“Last year, per court order, he gave prison authorities 12 million tomans [approximately $2,800 USD] to cover the fees for his transfer back to Turkey,” a close source said. “Yet despite the consent of Turkish authorities, that transfer never took place.”
Undeterred by his physical distress, old age, and cardiac disease, Ertoghlu is now starving himself in protest.
Ertoghlu initially faced a sentence of life in prison, which was commuted to 24 years in 2017.