According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Ms. Daemi had been on a hunger strike since Thursday, August 12, in protest of repeated telephone cuts and prison mismanagement.
She has ended her strike following the fixation of telephone cuts, and the release of prisoners whose release was delayed for weeks.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, it is said that the head of the prison has not been seen in the prison for about 4 weeks, and his absence has slowed down the release process of many prisoners.
According to an informed source, the frequent interruption of the prison phone raised concerns among Atena’s family members, and her parents had to travel to the Lakan Prison to visit Atena while they were infected with the coronavirus to confirm her well being.
Atena (Fatemeh) Daemi was sentenced to 14 years in prison on May 15, 2015, by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, headed by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, on charges of conspiracy against national security, propaganda against the regime, and insulting the leadership. After the appeal and application of Article 134, 5 years of prison were enforceable to her.
In 2018, while enduring her sentence in the women’s ward of Evin Prison, she and Golrokh Ebrahimi faced a new case, they were sentenced by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran to an additional 2 years and 1 month in prison after applying Article 134.
In July 2020, Branch 24 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Mohammad Reza Amouzad, sentenced Ms. Daemi to two years in prison and 74 lashes for a new lawsuit filed against her while imprisoned. The case was opened by the complaint of the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC against Ms. Daemi.
In March 2021, the Supreme Court overturned a request for a retrial of Atena’s lawyers. Atena Daemi and her family members have also faced numerous other security and judicial cases and pressures. In March 2021, Atena was transferred in handcuffs and shackles from Evin Prison to Lakan Prison in Rasht in Gilan Province.
This is not the young activist’s first hunger strike. Atena Daemi once went on a hunger strike in 2015, which led to health problems and removal of her gallbladder. Her previous hunger strike experience has increased her family’s concern.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Ziba Halat Monfared was imprisoned after being accused of financial crimes.
In February 2020, a spokesman for the judiciary expressed that the 25-year prison sentence of Alireza Ziba Halat had been confirmed and finalized.
He went on hunger strike following his request for meeting with judicial officials, but so far none of the officials has responded to the request. Ziba Halat Monfared has lost about 23 kg during this period.
Yesterday, July 8, civil activist Mohammad Nourizad was sent on medical leave from Evin Prison on a bail of 800 million tomans following a 102 day hunger strike.
Nourizad’s lawyer, Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, confirmed the news on his social media, stating, “It is interesting [strange] that they did not consider one person’s sponsorship sufficient, so I and the client’s brother took care of the bail. Mr. Nourizad has to start treatment on Saturday.”
Previously Aghasi had told HRANA, “My client has lost 55 pounds following a 102-day hunger strike and a 105-day medicine strike and is experiencing severe hearing loss; he has been wounding himself every day as a sign of objection; he has fainted 37 times.”
Mohammad Nourizad suffers from myriad underlying diseases such as asthma, heart problems, and high blood pressure.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Aghasi emphasized that his client has lost 55 pounds and is experiencing severe hearing loss.
Aghasi stated that although the prison prosecutor recently agreed to send him on leave, Nourizad has refused the offer, stating that he will continue his strike until his request for his and his son’s unconditional release is fulfilled.
Ali Nourizad, Mohammed’s son, was arrested by security forces in Tehran in January 2020 for protesting a rally against the downing of a Ukrainian plane by the IRGC, and for expressing sympathy with the victims’ families. He was released on bail a month later. The Tehran Revolutionary Court eventually sentenced him to 3 and a half years in prison. This sentence was upheld by the Tehran Court of Appeals. He has been serving out his sentence in Greater Tehran since October of last year.
Mr. Nourizad wants to be acquitted of all charges that were unjustly issued against him.
Mr. Aghasi added: “I really demand that the case of Mr. Nourizad and other people, who are known as the signatories of the leadership resignation statement from whom 11 are my clients, to be processed and judged by a fully independent judiciary so they can see how arguments about the convictions and issued sentences are completely incorrect.”
Earlier this year, UN experts expressed concern over the health condition of Mohammad Nourizad in Evin Prison and called for his immediate release.
66-year-old Nourizad is an Iranian director, screenwriter, journalist, and activist. Nourizad became an outspoken critic of the Islamic Republic a decade ago and has since been arrested and imprisoned several times for his civic work and visits to families of political prisoners.
As Mr. Aghasi stated, Nourizad has been wounding himself every day as a sign of objection; he has fainted 37 times. According to Aghasi, his conversations with his client and even the insistence of Nourizad’s wife and child did not work, and it seems that he has made his decision.
“I do not want my name to be on the list of those who are indifferent to current affairs,” Nourizad has said in a meeting with his lawyer. “And I am willing to give my life for it.”
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Behrouz’s hunger strike is in protest of his unjust death sentence and long-term detention in solitary confinement.
Behrouz became a member of one of the Iranian Kurdish opposition parties located in Iraq in 2018, but later that year, he got a safe-conduct letter and returned to Iran.
32-year-old Behrouz was first arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents in March 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison for membership in an opposition party (KDP).
Later, Branch 2 of the Urmia Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Ali Sheikh Lou, further sentenced Mr. Behrouz to death on charges of armed rebellion through membership in an opposition party and the murder of a member of the Revolutionary Guards.
12 separate people testified that at the time of the murder, Behrouz was in a shop in Dizaj town of Urmia city, nowhere near the scene of the crime. However, the court refused to hear the witnesses’ statements and convicted him anyway.
An informed source additionally told HRANA that the victim’s family has stated they did not file a lawsuit against Mr. Behrouz and believe in his innocence. They are even willing to testify in court to that end.
Shaker Behrouz is the son of Salim, and a resident of the Dizaj region of Urmia city in West Azerbaijan Province.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Hossein Hashemi and Mohammad Turkmani went on strike on June 1 and 2 after being transferred to the detention center for prisoners accused of violent crimes.
This transfer was a violation of the UN principle of separation of prisoners based on crime.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on Saturday, June 13, Abbas Lesani went on a hunger strike to protest the non-observance of the principle of separation of prisoners based on crime and the punitive transfer of political prisoners to wards with prisoners of violent crimes.
Seven other prisoners had gone on hunger strikes in support of Lesani’s endeavor.
The prisoners involved were Abbas Lesani, Yousef Kari, Mehrdad Sheikhi, Ali Vaseghi, Reza Vaseghi, Siamak Mirzaei, Behnam Sheikhi, and Kianoosh Aslani.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the political prisoner had been on a hunger strike since May 31 in the Greater Tehran Prison.
Earlier this year, Pirzadeh went on a hunger strike following the failure of authorities to fulfill their promise to agree to parole. Pirzadeh ended his hunger strike in March after authorities promised that his demands would be met, but they did not follow through.
Pirzadeh reportedly told prison officials that this time he would end his hunger strike only when he is with his wife and child.
This demonstration, Pirzadeh’s second hunger strike of the year, was in response to prison officials’ denial of visitations and leave in the 25 months since his imprisonment.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the prisoners were transferred to the quarantine center of Ardabil Prison for isolation on Sunday, June 13, and have been barred from phone calls.
Mehrdad Sheikhi, Ali Vaseghi and Reza Vaseghi have been on a hunger strike since June 13 to protest the non-observance of the principle of separation of crimes and the transfer of political prisoners to wards with prisoners of violent crimes. Abbas Lesani and Yousef Kari have been on strike since Saturday, June 12th.
Despite the long term physical and mental harm that hunger strikes can cause, many prisoners in Iran are resorting to this mode of protest, as it is one of the only tools of expression available to them. Many of these strikes take place in protest of the lack of attention to problems in prisoners’ cases, non-observance of inmates’ rights, and prolonged uncertainty about the status of their detention.
