Fifteen Women on Hunger Strike in Kachooie Prison

Fifteen women arrested at recent protests have been on hunger strike for five days in Kachooie Prison, Karaj.

HRANA has identified these women as:

  1. Elham Modarresi
  2. Armita Abbasi
  3. Fatemeh Harbi
  4. Jasmin Haj-Mirza Mohammadi
  5. Fatemeh Nazari-Nejad
  6. Shahrzad Derakhshan
  7. Fatemeh Jamalpour
  8. Nilloofar Shakeri
  9. Hamideh Zeraei
  10. Niloofar Kardooni
  11. Somayeh Masoumi
  12. Ansieh Mousavi
  13. Maedeh Sohrabi
  14. Fatemeh Mosleh Heidarzadeh
  15. Marzieh Mirghasem

An informed source told HRANA they went on hunger strike in protest against prolonged detention in uncertainty, poor sanitary conditions, inadequate medical care, being held in an overcrowded ward, the lack of access to a lawyer and unjust verdicts.

“The court hearing to examine the charges against Hamideh Zeraei, Fatemeh Harbi and Ansieh Mousavi was held through a video call in prison. Their attorneys were not present, and they were not given enough time to defend themselves,” the source added.

According to this source, Harbi received five years, of which she will be in prison in exile for two years. Zeraei and Mousavi are still awaiting the verdict.

According to other reports obtained by HRANA, pre-trial detention’s Elham Modarresi was extended for one month on January 3. Also, another informed source told HRANA that Modarresi was beaten by prison guards to end her hunger strike.

In Iran’s prisons, despite their physical and mental impairments, hunger strikes are common among prisoners. Hunger strikes are used as a last resort for protesting unlawful detention without trials, violations of prisoners’ rights and infringement on due process.