Covid-19 threaten life of Political prisoner Akbar Bagheri in Iran

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Akbar Bagheri has been suffering from hemorrhage for three weeks and has become seriously weak. He is detained in ward 5 of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary where covid-19 suspected patients are held and is in danger of becoming infected.

Akbar Bagheri has severe hemorrhoid, liver complication and kidney malfunction. Last week, he had a high fever after his health relapsed. But instead of treating him, prison authorities intended to transfer him to the quarantine ward where covid-19 patients are detained.

Mr. Bagheri’s health condition has aggravated. He has become very weak, anemic and experiences severe pains and insomnia. He has lost a lot of blood and needs blood transfusion, the prison’s infirmary staff say this is not their duty.

In January, Mr. Bagheri went unconscious due to severe pain, illness and anemia. Last year, too, he had to be transferred to the emergency room after he went unconscious. Tests taken from him in the emergency room showed that he was suffering from anemia and he was given two blood units.

Authorities of Evin Prison had previously promised to send him to a civic hospital to undergo surgery. However, he was abruptly transferred to the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, without being cared for ever since.

Akbar Bagheri has an 8-year-old daughter and an elderly mother who were under his care. His family live in Kermanshah and are not able to visit him due to the long distance.

A supporter of the opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) Akbar Bagheri, was once arrested in 2017 after security forces raided his home.

After two months of severe interrogation and solitary confinement in Diesel Abad prison of Kermanshah, western Iran, Bagheri was temporarily released on bail.

He was arrested again on February 21, 2018, during a protest rally held by the clients of the Caspian credit firm, linked to the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), in front of the regime’s parliament.

Bagheri was kept in the solitary confinement cells of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) in Evin for 48 days and was transferred to Ward 4 of the prison in March.

He was later taken to the Greater Tehran Penitentiary.