Hassan Montaz, Bahai Citizen, Returned to Prison in Shackles from Hospital

Hassan Montaz Saroostani, an imprisoned Bahai citizen who had been transferred to a hospital outside Evin Prison for medical tests, was returned to Evin Prison without completing his course of treatment.

According to the Iran Human Rights website, Hassan Montaz Saroostani, an imprisoned Bahai citizen, was transferred on Tuesday, April 13 to a hospital outside the prison due to poor physical condition. However, despite the treating physician at the hospital emphasizing that he should remain under special medical care for at least 48 hours following his angiography and should be prepared immediately for stent placement (heart spring) due to severe vessel blockage, he was returned to Evin Prison before completing his treatment, in shackles and leg irons.

Hassan Montaz Saroostani, who was sentenced to five years in prison by Branch 36 of the Tehran Province Court of Appeals for teaching Persian literature to Bahai students deprived of education in a virtual university in December 2014, and was sent to Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz on December 28, 2017 to serve his sentence, was transferred on Tuesday, March 29, 2019 from Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz to Evin Prison under the pretext of treatment, despite his and his family’s residence being in Shiraz.

The U.S. State Department’s Special Adviser for Religious Minorities in the Middle East, South and Central Asia has criticized the continued persecution of minorities in Iran and called on the Islamic Republic to immediately release all prisoners of conscience and respect religious freedoms.

Source: Voice of America