Four more prisoners taken to Evin prison infirmary after hunger strike

GVF -- Four prisoners who had previously gone on hunger strike have been taken to the infirmary of Evin prison.

According to the Kaleme website, student activists Zia Nabavi, Ali Malihi, Majid Dorri and post-election protester Gholamhossein Arshi were taken to the Evin prison infirmary yesterday following a deterioration of their health. After receiving basic medical attention such as being treatment with serum, the men were returned to solitary confinement where they all continued with their hunger strike, against the advice of their doctors. The strike has attracted much attention since it began on Monday.

Another student activist Majid Tavakoli is also suffering from a poor health condition, however until now he has refused to be taken to Evin prison’s infirmary and to receive any form of medical attention such as serum. The physical health of other Evin prisoners on hunger strike such as Bahman Ahmadi Amooei and Abdollah Momeni has also been reported as “inappropriate” and “deteriorating”. This has led to increasing concerns among family prisoners who have been kept in the dark ever since the hunger strike began.

Previously, Peyman Karimi Azad, a post-election protester suffering from diabetes had also been admitted to the hospital as a result of his hunger strike which had also led to unconsciousness. Reports from within Evin prison suggest that he is still in hospital.

Bahman Ahmadi Amooei (journalist), Hossein Nourinejad (journalist and member of Islamic Iran Participation Front), Abdollah Momeni (student activist and spokesperson for the Office for Fostering Unity), Ali Parviz (student activist), Hamidreza Mohammadi (political activist), Jafar Aghdami (civil activist), Babak Bordbar (photojournalist), Ebrahim (Nader) Babaei (civil activist and wounded veteran of the Iran-Iraq war), Kouhyar Goudarzi (human rights activist and weblog writer), Keyvan Samimi (journalist) and Mohammad Hossein Sohrabi Rad are other prisoners currently on hunger strike in solitary confinement in ward 350 of Evin prison. Agents from the Intelligence Ministry have threatened that they will turn their prison into “a second Kahrizak” detention centre. The centre was shut down in the summer of 2009 after reports surfaced about the systematic torture and abuse of prisoner at Kahrizak prison. 

The prisoners’ hunger strike is in response to the prison authorities’ mistreatment of inmates and their transfer to solitary confinement in ward 350 of Evin prison.