Wednesday 25 May 2016

IRAN: Nearly a month into hunger strike the health of Iranian political prisoner is deteriorating


Jafar Azimzadeh, imprisoned at the notorious Evin Prison
Jafar Azimzadeh, imprisoned at the notorious Evin Prison



The health of an Iranian political prisoner on indefinite hunger strike is in grave danger.
Jafar Azimzadeh, imprisoned at the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, is on Day 26 of his hunger strike protesting Tehran’s crackdown on union activity.
On Saturday, he was taken to hospital complaining of kidney pain but refused to have liquid serum administered and was transferred back to the prison, still in pain.
His wife reports that in addition to his kidney problems, Mr. Azimzadeh has lost a considerable of weight, his blood pressure has dropped and he is having vision problems.
The Tehran bus drivers’ union, the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) called for Mr. Azimzadeh’s release from prison and warned the public that his health had been greatly affected by his strike.
Mr. Azimzadeh, a workers’ rights activist, is being heavily pressured by the regime to end his strike. As previously reported on Stop Fundamentalism, Tehran’s prosecutor's office demanded that he stop the hunger strike after he was unable to walk from his cell on Ward 8 to the visitor’s hall to see his wife, on May 17.
They even offered him the chance to take long-term leave from prison, not out of concern for his health but because they are scared of him becoming a ‘martyr’.

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