Bahareh Hedayat Transferred to Qarchak Prison and Continues Hunger Strike
Bahareh Hedayat, a women’s rights activist who was transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin on Sunday, February 16, remains on a hunger strike. Her condition has been reported as poor. Qarchak Women’s Prison in Varamin is being compared to Kahrizak Detention Center.
Hedayat’s transfer to Qarchak Prison and continuation of her hunger strike comes at a time when no charges have yet been brought against her. This student activist was transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin on Sunday, February 16, 2020.
The human rights news agency “Hrana” announced on Monday, February 17, 2020, that Bahareh Hedayat has been on a hunger strike since her arrest in Tehran and transfer to Qarchak Varamin, causing her to suffer from “low blood pressure and physical weakness.”
Hedayat was arrested on Monday, February 10, by Tehran Security Police, coinciding with a summons from the University of Tehran’s security office, and according to some reports, was transferred to Evin Prison at that time. This has pointed the finger of accusation at officials of the University of Tehran’s security office for cooperating with security agencies in the arrest and detention of students.
This student activist informed her family on Tuesday, February 11, of her arrest and presence at the Evin Prosecutor’s Office.
The head of the University of Tehran’s security office, after Hedayat’s arrest by security police, told ILNA that participation in the November 2019 protests could be one of the reasons for her arrest and detention.
Qarchak Prison in Varamin, to which Bahareh Hedayat has been transferred, is located in the deserts east of Tehran, and many compare the conditions of this women’s prison to Kahrizak Detention Center.
Earlier, as concerns about the conditions of female prisoners in Qarchak Prison in Varamin grew, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a parliament representative, also described the conditions of this prison as concerning and said that officials were unwilling to account for the situation.
Several of Hedayat’s friends also expressed concern on Monday on Twitter about her hunger strike following news of her transfer to Qarchak Prison. It was reported that Bahareh Hedayat’s hunger strike is “a wet hunger strike and she is experiencing stomach bleeding.”
Prisoners’ hunger strikes in Iran are a sign of their protest against issues including violations of prisoners’ rights, prolonged uncertainty about their cases, and failure to address case-related problems.
Meanwhile, several political and human rights prisoners in Iranian prisons are on hunger strikes. Amir Salar Davoudi, a imprisoned lawyer, Mohammad Nourizad, Berzan Mohammadi, Reza Mohammadhosseini, Mehdi Maskin-Navaz, and Khaled Pirzadeh are among the prisoners who have undertaken hunger strikes in recent weeks.
Source: DW
