Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran September 28, 2019—The court hearings of political prisoner Majid Assadi, scheduled for Wednesday, September 26, was canceled for the second time following his refusal to wear prison uniforms during his transfer for the court procedures, and illegal measures taken by prison authorities, according to reports obtained from inside Iran.
Iran: Political Prisoner Majid Assadi addresses his fellow compatriots
#FreeAllProtesters
#Iran pic.twitter.com/OrzSDdFur5— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) April 29, 2018
Prior to this, Assadi was summoned to the Evin court in northern Tehran, the capital of Iran, on August 18. However, the hearings were canceled due to his resistance and refusal to wear prison uniforms and authorities using hand and feet cuffs for his transfer to court.
Reports in August indicated Iranian regime authorities denying medical care for Assadi and Arash Sadeghi, another political prisoner, who has cancer. According to physicians, Assadi suffers from Ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a rheumatism disease that affects the spine. He also has ulcers and inflammation in his vision network. His digestive problems have intensified as a result of prison authorities depriving him of medical care.
Majid Assadi needs to visit a hospital outside the prison every three months to control his AS syndrome, which is a dangerous disease. But because of the obstructions caused by the prison authorities and the regime’s judiciary, he has no access to physicians and specialized care.
Assadi, a graduate from Alameh Tabatabaei University, was arrested in 2017 in his home, also on charges of "propaganda and conspiracy against the establishment." He was sentenced to six years in prison and two years in exile. He also spent four years in prison between 2011 and 2015.
Back in 2012, Assadi went on hunger strike for one week protesting the measures of the regime’s so-called courts against two political prisoners in Ward 350 in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. The two prisoners were Ali Moezi and Vahid Asghari, who were transferred to solitary confinement and banned from any visits.
Arash Sadeghi, after undergoing surgery in September 2018, was immediately returned to prison on orders of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and the prosecutor’s office. Sadeghi needs to undergo several rounds of chemotherapy. However, regime authorities continue to hinder the process of his urgently needed medical care.
Sadeghi, a political prisoner, and human rights activist, is serving a 15-year prison sentence on charges of insulting the leaders of the Iranian regime and "propaganda and conspiracy against the establishment," a common allegation used against anyone who speaks against the regime. In August, Amnesty International issued a warning on the health conditions of Sadeghi.
In September 2018, doctors diagnosed him with ulcers and inflammation of intestines. But despite his critical conditions, he has been deprived of access to physicians in the past year.
