Reported by PMOI/MEK
Iran, Jan. 10, 2019 – Political prisoner Sohail Arabi, held in the Greater Tehran Prison, is currently in critical condition, suffering from intense bleeding due to a broken nose. Regime officials are refusing to allow this political prisoner to seek medical treatment despite this life threatening status and continuous pains from his broken nose. For months, Arabi has been deprived from any medical care or surgery, literally placing him under torture for several months now.
It is worth noting that Haj Moradi, warden of the Greater Tehran Prison, issued orders back in June of last year to have political prisoner Sohail Arabi transferred to ward 2A of the notorious Evin Prison in the country’s capital, Tehran. This ward is under the direct control of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and Arabi was placed under constant interrogation. The interrogators placed this political prisoner under torture and he suffered a broken nose that he has been forced to bear ever since. Arabi was initially taken to the Khomeini Hospital only to be returned to the Greater Tehran Prison without being allowed to undergo surgery.
The Iranian regime has a long history of human rights violations and torturing political prisoners, including Sohail Arabi. The following is a November 2017 statement issued by the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) on this subject.
Authorities in Gohardasht Prison of Karaj, west of the Iranian capital of Tehran, are refusing to respond to the demands raised by prisoners in hall 10, ward 4 of this facility. These prisoners were transferred to this section on July 30 following a vicious and sudden raid, and continue to be without any telephone connection and necessary medical attention. The conditions of Mohammad Banazadeh, 71, suffering from heart and intestinal illnesses, and Majeed Assadi, suffering from chronic stomach illness, is reported as extremely dire.
The authorities are also preventing any medical care for Arash Sadeghi, another prisoner in this ward who is suffering from numerous illnesses due to a hunger strike lasting more than 70 days.
42-year old political prisoner Mohammad Nazari, transferred to Urmia Central Prison (northwest Iran) following a 99 day hunger strike, was severely beaten by prison guards upon his entrance and immediately transferred to solitary confinement. Nazari, having spent 24 years behind bars, is suffering from a variety of illnesses – including kidney disease – and needs to undergo surgery. The authorities, however, have prevented his transfer to a hospital.
Rameen Hossein Panahi, a Kurdish political prisoner, remains imprisoned in “safe houses” belonging to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) intelligence of Sanandaj, western Iran. He is currently in dire conditions. He suffered three gunshot wounds when arrested by the IRGC on July 23 and authorities refuse to transfer him to Sanandaj prison or provide any medical care. For his collaboration with Kurdish groups he has been condemned on charges of “war against God through measures against national security.” The authorities are also preventing his family from hiring a lawyer.
64-year old political prisoner Arzhang Davoudi, exiled in Zabol Prison (southeast Iran) since September of last year and held in solitary confinement, is suffering from diabetes and has at times suffered from serious vision problems. Despite the fact that he has served 14 years of his sentence, Davoudi has been transferred to different prisons on 16 different counts. These facilities lack even minimum medical and restroom facilities.
At Zahedan Central Prison, after political prisoners refused to participate in the regime's commemoration, the regime interrupted telephone conversations between prisoners in wards 3 and 4, most of them Sunni prisoners. In this same prison, the torturers refused to provide medical treatment to Mohammad Azizi, a 21-year-old political prisoner whose arm was wounded last month when arrested by guards. He, who has been charged with "acting against national security", is now in critical condition because of the infection of the wound.
The political prisoner Sohail Arabi has also been transferred last week to ward 1 of Evin prison, quarantined and lacking communications facilities and visitations, after tolerating a long hunger strike in Prison.
Ward 7 of the Ardebil Prison, where political prisoners are held, has become a cage for the prisoners and they are denied of recreation in the open air. In the same prison, in a brutal action, an ordinary prisoner was chained to a bar in the quarantine section in the cold weather on November 13. This is a routine in Ardebil's prison and has led to the death of a number of prisoners so far.
The Iranian Resistance calls on all international authorities and human rights organizations to take effective steps to address the grave situation of political prisoners in Iran.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
November 30, 2017
