According to Jaras, imprisoned journalist Isa Saharkhiz has launched a hunger strike in Rajai Shahr ‘Gohardasht’ prison since Thursday. He has also threatened to stop taking all his needed medication.
Isa Saharkhiz has been imprisoned for more than two years, and his physical health has greatly deteriorated as a result.
He suffers from highly irregular blood pressure and severe back pain. He also suffers from damaged vertebrae in his spinal cord. According to a physician, if left untreated, it can lead to paralysis.
Political prisoners are only allowed to be treated in a hospital by the permission of the Public Prosecutor. However, it takes the Prosecutor months to issue such approvals, which has increased concern regarding Isa Saharkhiz’s health.
According to reports, doctors have discovered that Saharkhiz has a tumor suspected to be cancerous that requires immediate medical treatment.
His son Mehdi Saharkhiz told Jaras, “Doctors suspected a cancerous tumor in his body and a biopsy should immediately be performed, but nothing has been done yet, and they do not provide the family with any answers. He needs to be under the care of specialists, but, as I said, nothing has been done yet. My father also suffers from irregular blood pressure which needs to be treated. We have requested medical furlough for him numerous times, but they won’t even respond to our request. By not answering, they do not need to explain the reason for rejecting the medical furlough.”
Isa Saharkhiz is a member of the Central Council for the Association of the Defense of Press Freedom and is editor in chief of the banned newspapers “The world of Economics” and the monthly publication “Aftab”. He was head of the press department at the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Education during former President Khatami’s administration.
Saharkhiz was arrested in June 2009 during the mass arrests of the post-presidential election. He was tried in branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Salavati, and was sentenced to three years in prison on the charges of, “Insulting the Supreme Leader” and “Propaganda against the regime”.
Jaras also reported on another political prisoners in Rajai Shahr prison who requires immediate medical attention. He is an 83-year-old man in dire condition who suffers from leukemia. He may lose his life if he is not tended to, just like political prisoner Mohsen Dokmechi, who lost his life due to the lack of medical treatment for his cancer.
Several reports indicate that the sanitary condition in Rajai Shahr prison is worsening and there are increasing pressures on the political prisoners and their families.
Text of the Jaras report translated by Persian Banoo
Source : Persian2English