Thursday , 28 March 2024

Parents Of Jailed Iranian Activist Mousivand Protest In Front Of Prison

RFL/RE – The parents of jailed Iranian activist Behnam Mousivand have held a demonstration in front of the Rajaei-Shahr prison to protest against the lack of attention being given to their son’s health following hunger strikes.

Behnam Mousivand’s sister said in a tweet on September 8 that on the orders of the prison authorities, the police tried to arrest her parents, but they faced resistance from several family members at the site.

A video of Mousivand’s parents was published on social media showing them standing in front of the Rajaei-Shahr prison.

The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) also warned about Mousaviand’s state of health.


The CHRI on September 7 expressed concern about Mousivand’s “precarious health situation,” which is “raising fears of another preventable death in Iranian state custody due to the authorities’ denial of proper medical treatment.”

“Iranian authorities are subjecting Behnam Mousivand to a slow and deliberate death to silence his criticism of state policies,” said CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi.

“If the international community does not publicly condemn Iranian authorities’ killing of political prisoners, this will give them a green light to continue to pick them off, one by one, as just another means of silencing dissent,” he said.

According to reports from human rights groups, Mousivand launched the hunger strike after authorities at the notorious Evin prison prevented him from being transferred to an offsite medical center despite his deteriorating health condition, with the warden even threatening to transfer him to another prison.

He previously went on a hunger strike in April after being beaten by prison guards for refusing to wear handcuffs and shackles while he was heading to receive medical treatment outside of the prison, where he is serving six years on convictions for “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the system.”

At that time, instead of transferring Mousivand to a health center for treatment, he was moved to a quarantine ward at Evin, on the northern edge of Tehran.

Mousivand, 35, has been arrested several times for his political activism.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda
0