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Amensty – The health of jailed trade unionist Esmail Abdi has deteriorated following a hunger strike he started on 30 April in protest at the criminalization of peaceful trade unionists. He is a prisoner of conscience serving a six-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin prison. http://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1362602017ENGLISH.pdf

Amnesty – The Iranian authorities must immediately transfer Atena Daemi, an imprisoned human rights defender, whose health has sharply deteriorated in recent days, to a hospital outside of prison so that she can receive the specialized medical care she requires, said Amnesty International. Atena Daemi, who has been on hunger strike for 40 days, has been coughing up blood, suffered …

CHRI – Rouhani Criticizes Revolutionary Guard in Firey Speech During his last campaign rally on May 17 in the city of Mashhad–the hometown of his main rival Ebrahim Raisi–Rouhani accused the powerful Revoluntionary Guard and Basij paramilitary forces of interfering in the political process: “We like the Revolutionary Guard and the Basij militia. All we are asking is to carry …

RFL/RE – Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for a high turnout in the country’s May 19 presidential election. In remarks on May 17, Khamenei said a big turnout would mitigate the impact of what he called “unworthy” animosity in a series of televised debates between the candidates. “In the election debates, some remarks were made that were …

RFL/RE – Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi, who has been under house arrest since 2011, will vote for President Hassan Rohani in Iran’s election on May 19, according to the opposition website Kalameh. The website reported on May 16 that Musavi has requested that security forces bring a mobile ballot box to his residence so that he can cast …