Hunger strike in Evin in protest against the release of political prisoners

With the spread of the coronavirus in Iran and the opposition of the judiciary to releasing political and ideological prisoners, several prisoners, including Nasrin Sotoudeh, have gone on a hunger strike. At the same time, it has been reported that two prison guards in Evin have contracted the coronavirus.

According to the latest reports from websites active in the field of human rights, following the possibility of the coronavirus spreading to Iranian prisons, a number of political prisoners, civil activists, and protesters have gone on a hunger strike in November 2019 to protest the judicial authorities' refusal to agree to their temporary release and leave, and the uncertainty of their case.

Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist, went on a hunger strike on Monday, March 16, in a statement to protest the authorities' refusal to release political prisoners.

Ms. Sotoudeh, who is on strike in Evin Prison, referred in her statement to the spread of the coronavirus in Iran and the world and wrote: "The military and intelligence institutions, which have disrupted the country's security by imposing their belligerent managements, continue to insist on continuing to imprison political prisoners in the current dangerous conditions."

“Death of political prisoners due to the Corona storm”

Ms. Sotoudeh's concern is that as the imprisonment of political prisoners continues and the coronavirus "deepens and spreads," "the storm of this deadly virus will destroy political prisoners or their families."

According to the Ministry of Health statistics as of noon on Monday, March 16, the official number of coronavirus victims in Iran has reached 853 as of the time of this report. From Sunday afternoon to noon today (Monday, March 16), 1,053 new cases of COVID-19 were identified in the country, bringing the total number of people infected with the disease in the country to 14,991.

Of the newly identified patients, 129 people lost their lives, bringing the total number of deaths from COVID-19 in Iran to 853 as of Monday.

Previously, families of political and ideological prisoners had asked judiciary officials to prevent them from contracting the coronavirus by sending these prisoners on leave and temporarily releasing them.

A few days after the request, a spokesman for the judiciary said that in accordance with the provisions of the directive from the head of the judiciary, 70,000 prisoners had been sent on leave. However, this directive did not include political and ideological prisoners.

In another part of her statement, Ms. Sotoudeh considered the closure of many prison wards in the country, including the women's ward of Evin Prison, a "national necessity" and emphasized that it is based on this national necessity that "the government must reconcile with the world in order to benefit from the benefits of knowledge and technology to combat the coronavirus."

“Psychological Harassment of Political Prisoners”

At the same time, the human rights agency HRANA reported on the hunger strike of civil activist Rezvaneh Ahmad Khanbeigi in the women's ward of Evin Prison. The reason for her hunger strike, which began today, March 16, is to protest the denial of leave.

A source close to the prisoner's family told HRANA: "In recent days, the names of political prisoners have been repeatedly added to and removed from the list of those who will go on leave. This has caused additional psychological harassment for political prisoners and their families. Especially those who, despite being sick and eligible, are still not sent on leave."

The provisions of the directive of the Head of the Judiciary approving the release of prisoners only include financial prisoners and prisoners with sentences of less than 5 years.

Recently, US and UN officials, in various statements and referring to reports of the spread of the coronavirus in Iranian prisons, called for all political and ideological prisoners, as well as dual-national and non-Iranian prisoners in Iran, to be temporarily released.

Javed Rehman, the UN human rights rapporteur on Iran, has also called on the Islamic Republic's officials to avoid discrimination in the process of granting temporary leave and release of prisoners.

“War makeup”

Concerns about the spread and pandemic of the coronavirus in Iran have caused the provincial forces of the Revolutionary Guards, along with medical universities, to put on "war dress."

According to Hossein Salami, commander of the Revolutionary Guards, 6,000 patients have been admitted to Baqiyatollah Hospital (affiliated with the IRGC) so far, and nearly 500 patients are admitted to the hospital daily, which he said is "a huge cycle."

“Two prison guards at Evin Women’s Ward infected with Corona”

Concerns about the lack of agreement on the release of political and ideological prisoners come as HRANA, citing its sources, reported that “two guards of the women’s ward of Evin Prison have been banned from coming to work for 10 days due to suspicion of contracting the coronavirus.” It was said that in recent days, the result of the coronavirus test of one of these two officers was declared positive.

It has also been reported that over the past week, Yasman Ariani, Saba Kordafshari, Atena Daemi, and Nazanin Zaghari, four prisoners held in this ward, have fallen ill with cold-like symptoms.

Meanwhile, human rights organizations reported that a number of female political prisoners in Qarchak Prison in Varamin are still in prison "despite the conditions."

Hunger strike in Greater Tehran Prison

The HRANA news agency also reported that Abolfazl Karimi, one of those arrested during the November protests in Iran, has been on a hunger strike since Monday morning, March 16.

The reason for Mr. Karimi's action was reported to be "protesting the continued detention and uncertainty." He is 18 years old and, four months after his arrest, is still being held in Tehran's Grand Prison.

According to HRANA, he wrote a note describing his interrogation, writing that the IRGC intelligence agents "attempted to beat him and pull out his nails" during the interrogation.

Source: DW