Sam Rajabi, an environmental activist imprisoned in Iran, has contracted the coronavirus.
Following the announcement of a positive coronavirus test result for Sam Rajabi, an environmental activist imprisoned in Iran, he has been returned to Evin Prison from a hospital outside the prison.
Katayoun Rajabi, the sister of the imprisoned environmental activist, announced on Wednesday, May 23, in a tweet that Sam Rajabi, who also suffers from a lung disease, was transferred to a hospital outside the prison for follow-up and surgery when a pre-surgery test revealed that he was infected with the coronavirus, and for this reason, he was immediately returned to Evin Prison.
According to him, with the environmental activist's re-transfer to prison, prison officials have transferred him to quarantine and announced that Sam Rajabi will be kept in prison quarantine until he recovers.
In another text he posted on Twitter, Katayoun Rajabi also held the Space Force responsible for his brother's life and announced that all people who have been in contact with Sam Rajabi to date, including the environmental activist's cellmates, must be tested.
On March 19, 2019, Ms. Rajabi announced on her Twitter that Sam Rajabi, who had been admitted to the Evin Prison Health Department with symptoms such as cough, fever, and headache and transferred to Taleghani Hospital in Tehran due to suspected coronavirus, had been transferred back to prison after doctors diagnosed him with the flu and the coronavirus test came back negative.
In early March of this year, Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the Islamic Republic's judiciary, issued a new circular ordering limited leave for a group of prisoners sentenced to imprisonment, subject to certain conditions. According to one of the provisions of the circular, political prisoners who have been sentenced to more than five years in prison on charges of "acting against national security" are "exempt from being sent on leave."
As such, most political prisoners of conscience, including Sam Rajabi, who have been sentenced to more than 5 years, are not subject to this directive, and despite the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iranian prisons, the lives of this imprisoned environmental activist and countless prisoners are at risk.
Sam Rajabi is one of eight environmental activists who were arrested by the IRGC Intelligence Agency more than two years ago and sentenced to six years in prison on Tuesday, February 19. The sentencing drew reactions from some human rights organizations and the US State Department.
Source: Voice of America
