Amir Hossein Mohammadifar and Sanaz Alipour Denied Contact and Visitation Upon Starting Hunger Strike

Amir Hossein Mohammadifar and Sanaz Alipour, members of the Gam publication, have been denied phone contact and visitation with each other following the start of their hunger strike.

The Twitter page of the campaign supporting the Haft Tappeh detainees announced this news on Friday, July 5th, stating: “The only action taken by prison officials in response to their requests has been cutting off phone communications between this imprisoned couple.”

Amir Hossein Mohammadifar, editor-in-chief of Gam publication, had sent an open letter from Evin Prison to Mohammad Moghiseh, the judge overseeing their case, requesting the release of himself and his wife, Sanaz Alipour, on bail pending trial.

In his letter, he stated that if his situation and that of his wife remained unresolved and unaddressed, he would begin a hunger strike starting Thursday, July 4th.

Amnesty International issued a call on Thursday, July 4th, urging people and human rights activists worldwide to write letters to Ali Qassi Mehr, the Prosecutor General of Tehran, expressing their concern about the situation of Amir Amirgoli, Sanaz Alipour, and Amir Hossein Mohammadifar, who have been arbitrarily detained since December 2018 without access to their lawyers in prison. The organization called for their immediate and unconditional release.

Mohammadifar and Alipour were arrested by security forces on January 9th of last year. After several months of detention at the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility, they were transferred to Evin Prison in May of this year.

The Haft Tappeh protests case involves seven defendants. The cases of Esmail Bakhshi, Sepideh Qolian, Amir Amirgoli, Amir Hossein Mohammadifar, Sanaz Alipour, Ali Nejati, and Asal Mohammadi have been referred to Branch 28 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.

“Membership in opposition groups against the system,” “gathering and conspiracy,” “propaganda against the system,” and “spreading false information with the intent to disturb public opinion” are among the charges brought against Amir Amirgoli, Sanaz Alipour, Amir Hossein Mohammadifar, and Esmail Bakhshi in court.

Source: Voice of America