Political Prisoner Injured After Protest by Self-Immolation in Evin Prison

On Wednesday, October 27, political prisoner Mehdi Darini was injured by self-immolation and hospitalized in the healthcare center of Evin Prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Darini’s demonstration was in protest of prison authorities’ refusal to release him on probation. He is currently enduring the second year of a five year term in Evin Prison in Tehran.

An informed source told HRANA that Darini had previously warned prison officials about his intentions if the interrogator refused to consider his demand to be released.

During the last interrogation, in response to his stating his intention to go on a hunger strike, the interrogator reportedly said, “All the better; the regime has already too many hungry mouths to feed.”

35-year-old Mehdi Darini, a production engineer, was sentenced to five years in prison by the Revolutionary Court of Tehran on a charge of ” blasphemy” and one year on a charge of “propaganda against the regime”. According to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, a severest punishment of five years is enforceable.