Iran Human Rights Calls for Attention to Soheil Arabi’s Physical Condition
Iran Human Rights (SEPT 30 2017): Soheil Arabi is in a critical condition after a 37-day hunger strike, following his imprisonment due to his social media activity.
A voice message from Soheil Arabi was published online on Friday, suggesting that his physical condition was critical. Additionally, his friends and family have also directly reported to Iran Human Rights (IHR) that the physical condition of this prisoner is very serious.
According to the reports, Mr. Arabi has now begun a ‘dry’ hunger strike, which means has consumed no liquid and no food for the past seven days. He initially started by doing a ‘wet’ hunger strike, in which he drank only water for 30 days before this.
Mr. Arabi was first arrested in 2013 and was first sentenced to death on the charge of “Insulting Prophet Muhammad” in September 2014 at branch 76 of the Penal Court of Tehran. This was later reduced to seven years and a half in prison. He was also sentenced to three years imprisonment on the charge of insulting Ayatollah Khamenei, yet this charge remains undecided.
However, he only began his hunger strike on August 1st, as a result of his wife being arrested by Iranian authorities. He stopped his strike immediately after his wife was released on bail on August 7th, yet unfortunately he was forced to begin again after his wife was threatened with a re-trial.
While expressing deep concern for this matter, Iran Human Rights (IHR) urges Iranian authorities to focus their attention on Arabi’s condition in Evin prison, as well as other prisoners who are in the same situation. It is key for the authorities to consider the severity and weight of this human rights situation, in order to end the strike.
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