An informed source: The reason Hope's kidney cancer was not identified was because he was not sent out of prison for tests.
A source familiar with the situation of Omid Kokabi, an elite physics PhD student, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Omid remains in hospital for treatment after doctors diagnosed him with a tumor in his kidney. “The delay in diagnosing Omid’s kidney cancer was due to not sending him outside the prison for examination and tests,” the source told the Campaign.
According to FCNN, this source familiar with the situation of Omid Kokabi's case told the campaign that the progression of his disease could have been prevented with timely diagnosis: "The reason Omid's kidney cancer was not identified was that he was not sent out of prison for examination and tests. For example, if he had been sent out for the first time in November 2019 after he passed a stone, he would have naturally been sent out after the bleeding and pain from the defecation, and he would have undergone an ultrasound as usual. Even an ultrasound image shows the presence of a tumor. Omid had visited the prison health department many times for kidney pain or abdominal pain."
He added: "Regarding the ultrasound scan taken for kidney stones, they discovered the presence of this large tumor completely by accident. He had been waiting for a while to be transferred to a hospital with a urology department, which was not approved. The prison doctors also prescribed him only painkillers without even examining him. This is his second visit to the hospital. About a week ago, Omid's cancer was diagnosed and his entire right kidney is affected by a cancerous tumor."
Omid Kokabi , a 30-year-old Iranian intellectual, a graduate of Sharif University and a postdoctoral student in nuclear physics at the University of Texas, USA, was arrested at Imam Khomeini Airport on January 30, 2011, while leaving the country. After his arrest, he was held in solitary confinement for a long time, and his family and lawyer were unable to contact him. After 15 months of temporary detention, he was sentenced to ten years in prison by a court presided over by Judge Salavati on Sunday, May 14, 2012, on charges of having ties to hostile states (the United States). His lawyer requested a retrial in 2014 to overturn the ten-year sentence, but Branch 54 of the Court of Appeals again upheld his 10-year sentence.
This informed source stated that Omid Kokabi had suffered from kidney pain many times in prison during these years, but the authorities did not allow him to be transferred to the hospital, or after being transferred to the hospital, he was returned to prison with a quick examination and before the usual medical examinations and tests were carried out. He told the campaign : " If Omid had passed a kidney stone the first time in November 2011, after the bleeding and severe pain he had passed the kidney, he would have been sent out of prison. Naturally, and according to the usual procedure that happens for any disease, he would have also undergone an ultrasound and the cancer would have been identified, and there would have been a possibility of preventing the tumor from becoming malignant. "
The source told the campaign : “The lawyer representing the family has requested his release.”
Saeed Khalili, the lawyer for Omid Kokabi, an elite physics PhD student, announced in an interview with ILNA news agency on Saturday, April 19, that his client has been diagnosed with kidney cancer in Evin Prison and “requires immediate nephrectomy or complete kidney removal along with the malignant tumor.” According to the prisoner’s lawyer, he should be released as soon as possible for medical and surgical procedures, based on Article 502 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, otherwise delaying treatment will cause irreparable harm to this young prisoner.
The lawyer also said that in addition to the evidence and documents in the case, his client now has the conditions for release according to Article 502 of the Criminal Procedure Code . Saeed Khalili explained this article : “ Whenever the convicted person suffers from a physical or mental illness and the execution of the sentence will aggravate the illness or delay his recovery, the judge executing criminal sentences shall postpone the execution of the sentence until he recovers, after obtaining the opinion of a forensic physician. ” Mr. Khalili emphasized that “ the application of this article does not depend on the opinion of the court or the prison ” and must be carried out immediately.
Saeed Khalili, Omid Kokabi's lawyer, told ILNA news agency that his client has been eligible for parole for more than two years according to the law, yet he has not been released yet, even considering his cancer.
Source: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
