Detained Activists in Mashhad “Have Gone on Hunger Strike”
According to the family of one of the political activists detained during a gathering last week in front of the Mashhad courthouse, these prisoners have gone on hunger strike.
Rahele Farajzadeh Tarani, a political activist living in Canada, told Radio Farda on Saturday, August 26, that her sister, Hooriyeh Farajzadeh Tarani, along with other detainees, has gone on hunger strike.
According to Ms. Tarani, the detainees are under interrogation by the Ministry of Intelligence, and during this time, none of them have been allowed to visit with their family members.
More than 10 civil activists gathered last Sunday, August 20, in front of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Mashhad in protest against a heavy prison sentence for Kamal Jaafari Yazdi, but security forces arrested them.
Kamal Jaafari Yazdi is one of the signatories of a letter by 14 civil and political activists calling for Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, to resign.
According to Rahele Tarani, a case has been opened in Branch 903 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court with a complaint from the Ministry of Intelligence for each of these political activists, while during this period none of them have had the right to legal representation.
In addition to Hooriyeh Tarani, other people detained last Sunday in Mashhad include Poran Nazemi, Fateme Sepahri, Hashem Khavastgar, Mohammad Hossein Sepahri, and Javad Laalmohammadi.
Earlier, the Farsi news agency, a media outlet close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had accused the detainees of “creating insecurity” and “having connections with subversive groups,” but Ms. Tarani emphasized in her interview with Radio Farda that the gathering in front of the Mashhad courthouse was peaceful and free from any disruption to public order, and therefore none of the detainees deserve such treatment.
Rahele Tarani, expressing concern about the health condition of her sister, Hooriyeh, and other detainees, said that during this period none of them have been allowed to meet with their families.
Fourteen political activists said in a letter published in late June that in circumstances where “there is neither news of a republic nor freedom,” the negotiation of civil activists “without the resignation of Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the amendment of the Constitution” will lead nowhere.
Following the publication of this statement, 14 female activists, including Hooriyeh Tarani, supporting previous activists, called for Ali Khamenei’s resignation and a transition from the Islamic Republic.
Source: Radio Farda
