Amnesty International Calls for Immediate Medical Attention for Hossein Sepanta, Political Prisoner in Iran
Amnesty International issued an appeal regarding the health condition of Hossein Sepanta, a Zoroastrian citizen imprisoned in Shiraz, expressing concern and calling for immediate medical attention for this political prisoner.
On Wednesday, April 6, Amnesty International issued this appeal, expressing concern about the medical condition of this imprisoned Zoroastrian citizen in Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz. The organization called on people and human rights activists around the world to write letters to Heydar Asiabadi, the general prosecutor and revolutionary prosecutor of Fars Province, demanding that Hossein Sepanta be granted access to medical care outside the prison.
The human rights organization, referring to Mr. Sepanta’s affliction with a rare disease called “syringomyelia,” which is considered a spinal cord injury that deprives the patient of mobility, stated that this disease has worsened during Hossein Sepanta’s detention due to lack of medical care in prison, causing him severe chronic pain, numbness, swallowing and bowel control problems, and loss of urinary control and physical balance. He wakes up constantly throughout the night and cries out from the pressure of pain.
Amnesty International, in issuing this appeal, requested that judicial authorities in Fars Province quickly provide treatment and special care conditions outside the prison for this imprisoned Zoroastrian citizen, in accordance with medical recommendations.
The organization also requested that responsible authorities investigate Hossein Sepanta’s allegations regarding torture, and protect this political prisoner from torture and other ill-treatment, including deprivation of medical care.
According to available information, Hossein Sepanta was arrested in 2000 on charges of “propaganda activities against the system” by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps intelligence agency and was released from prison after six months that same year. He was arrested again in 2013 after returning from a trip abroad for the second time by intelligence officials and was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison without a lawyer in court. This sentence was reduced to 10 years in the appeals court.
According to available information, Hossein Sepanta was arrested in 2000 on charges of “propaganda activities against the system” by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps intelligence agency and was released from prison after six months that same year. He was arrested again in 2013 after returning from a trip abroad for the second time by intelligence officials and was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison without a lawyer in court. This sentence was reduced to 10 years in the appeals court.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom once again expressed concern about the state of religious freedoms in Iran in its annual report and stated in the Iran section of this annual report, which was published on Tuesday, March 30, that the Islamic Republic has increasingly targeted Muslim minorities, particularly Sunnis and Sufis, as well as followers of other religions and sects, including Bahais and Christians.
Source: Voice of America
