“On 21 April, Kurdish political prisoner Afshin Sohrabzadeh, serving a 25-year jail sentence in Minab prison, temporarily ended his hunger strike he went on 10 days ago,” a reliable source told Kurdistan Human-Rights Network (KHRN).
The source said: “On the same day he was transferred to the governor’s prison office where he had the opportunity to directly discuss with him and with a judge in charge of monitoring health of the prisoners. Both of them [the officials] promised him to try to obtain for him a medical leave when Minab prosecutor would make a visit to the prison scheduled for next month.”
The KHRN source said that “the Kurdish prisoner had agreed to end his hunger strike and warned the prison officials that he would commit suicide and hold Islamic Republic of Iran responsible for his suicide if his requests are not met by the prosecutor who would come to listen to prisoners’ complaints next month”.
The KHRN source said: “On 5 March 2016, Ebrahim Mohamadi (Minab prosecutor) wrote to Kamyaran prosecutor to allow the release on bail on100 million Iranian toumans of Afshin Sohrabzadeh for medical reasons. His parents managed to raise that sum despite their dire financial situation thanks to the help of their family relatives. Afshin Sohrabzadeh’s father went from Kermanshah to Minab on the occasion of Iranian New Year holidays (Mid-March to beginning of April) to bring back his son with him. He waited for his son’s release in vain. Last week, he informed that the prosecutor of Minab changed his mind about the medical leave and doubled the amount of the bail, which is now fixed at 200 million toumans.”
The source said that the prisoner had gone on hunger strike to protest the mistreatment of his case by the prosecutor.
“‘Afshin Sohrabzadeh was already in a critical health condition when he went on his hunger strike. On 17 April, his health suddenly worsened due to dehydration and he was transferred to Minab hospital, where the medical staff said he was at imminent risk of death due to the hunger strike and explicitly asked him to immediately stop to allow them to give him intravenous therapy. But he refused to be hospitalized and was sent back to Minab prison after a few hours,” the source said.
“Last year, Sohrabzadeh was transferred several times to various hospitals in Shiraz, Tehran, Bandar Abbas and Kerman. However, each time, he was sent back to prison because his family could not afford to financially afford the cost of his medical treatment,” the source added.
In October 2015, Afshin Sohrabzadeh was sent to Evin prison in Tehran and was kept there for four months inside the detention No 7 in Cell 12.
KHRN has learnt that he had been transferred to Khomeyni Shahr hospital to be auscultation, which discovered a tumor in his intestine and an extreme deterioration of his left kidney.
The medical staff had demanded the sum of 75 million of Iranian tomans for his medical care, so he was returned to prison because his family could not afford it. He was hospitalized for 2 days in Bandar Abbas hospital in February and March. He spent 10 days in hospitals in Shiraz and 3 days in Kerman before being transferred back to Minab prison.
The 25-year-old political prisoner is from Kermanshah. He was arrested on 8 June 2010 in Kamyaran by the armed forces of Iranian Intelligence Ministry. He was harshly tortured during interrogations resulting in his nose being badly broken as well as groin hernia due to the constant beating by the prison guards. He was transferred twice to Sanandaj hospital during this period. He was later charged with “Moharebeh’ (enmity against God) for his membership in an outlawed Kurdish political party.
The branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj sentenced him to 25 years in prison. His jail sentence was doubled as well as forced exile to Minab city far from his relatives. He was transferred from Sanandaj to Minab in February 2012. His family struggled to obtain him a leave on bail for medical reasons although they went to Sanandaj, Kamran and Minab courts several times.
Last year, Minab prosecutor accepted to release him on bail but Kamyaran prosecutor refused. The governor of Minab prison wrote to the prosecutor demanding that he asks the judge to revoke the decision Sohrabzadeh’s exile and to send him to another prison with better health conditions and medical equipment.
However, the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj rejected the request and refused to understand the dangerously deteriorating health of the Kurdish political prisoner.
Source: Kurdistan Human Rights Network