Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj: Farhad Fahndezh Transferred to Solitary Confinement Over Positive Coronavirus Test
Farhad Fahndezh, a 61-year-old Baha’i prisoner, was transferred today, Thursday, October 1st, 2020, to a solitary cell in the security ward of Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj under the pretext of testing positive for coronavirus. Mr. Fahndezh, who is currently serving the eighth year of his ten-year sentence, suffers from gastrointestinal diseases and also has a heart condition. This, combined with his coronavirus infection, has increased the concerns of Mr. Fahndezh’s family members regarding his health status. Hrana previously reported on the infection of 45 Sunni prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj and warned of the possibility of coronavirus spreading among inmates in this prison, stating that political prisoners held in this prison and 75 prisoners held in Hall 12 are at risk of contracting the coronavirus.
According to Hrana news agency, the news organ of the Iranian human rights activists collective, today, Thursday, October 1st, 2020, Farhad Fahndezh, a Baha’i prisoner in the security hall subsection 10 of ward 4 in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, was transferred to a solitary cell in the security ward of this prison under the pretext of testing positive for coronavirus.
Mr. Fahndezh suffers from gastrointestinal diseases and also has a heart condition. This, combined with his coronavirus infection, has increased the concerns of Mr. Fahndezh’s family members regarding his health status.
Several other political prisoners in this prison, including Arash Sadeghi, who suffers from a malignant form of bone cancer called chondrosarcoma, Afshin Baymani, and Abolqasem Fooladvand, who suffer from heart disease, are serving their sentences; this will put their lives at greater risk of contracting coronavirus compared to others if infected.
Hrana had previously reported on the infection of 45 Sunni prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj and warned of the possibility of coronavirus spreading among inmates held in this prison, stating that political prisoners held in this prison and 75 prisoners held in Hall 12 are at risk of contracting the coronavirus.
Amnesty International recently announced that it had reviewed copies of four letters written by prison authorities, which operate under the supervision of the judiciary, to the Ministry of Health, sounding the alarm about severe shortages of personal protective equipment, disinfectants, and essential medical equipment and supplies. The Ministry of Health left these requests unanswered, and Iranian prisons continue to catastrophically lack the necessary equipment against the spread of contagious diseases.
This comes as Asghar Jahangir, head of the Prison Organization, claimed in the spring of this year regarding the preservation of prisoners’ health that “Iran should be recognized as a pioneer in supporting prisoners’ rights in the world”.
Hrana, in August of this year, in a report titled “Coronavirus Crisis; A Comprehensive Report on the Situation of Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj and the Latest List of Political Prisoners,” addressed the situation of political and security prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj and warned of the possibility of coronavirus spreading among inmates held in this prison.
Farhad Fahndezh, a Baha’i citizen born in 1338 (1959), is from Torbat Heydarieh city. He was arrested by security forces at his home in Gorgan on October 17th, 1991. After seven months of uncertainty, he was sentenced by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, to 10 years of imprisonment on charges of “promoting the Baha’i faith and running Baha’i organizations”.
This Baha’i citizen was also arrested in 1362 (at age 24) and sentenced to 6 years in prison. He has suffered from gastrointestinal diseases due to the poor conditions of his previous imprisonment.
Source: Hrana
