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Health of Iranian Kurdish political prisoner deteriorates while on hunger strike

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NCRI – Iranian Kurdish political prisoner Mohammad Sediq Kaboudvand, who has surpassed 23 days of a hunger strike, has fallen ill and his life is thought to be at risk.

Mr. Kaboudvand, a Kurdish journalist and a political prisoner in Ward 350 of Evin Prison, began a hunger strike earlier this month in protest to the fabrication of new charges against him by the regime and the ramping up of pressure and harassment in prison.

Despite his dire condition, the regime has increased pressure on him and has summoned him to be tried on fresh charges.

On Sunday, there were reports that Mr. Kaboudvand fainted due to a sudden fall in blood pressure and had to be taken to Taleqani Hospital in Tehran.

Doctors at the hospital have told Mr. Kaboudvand’s family that he is at risk of a heart attack and needs to be admitted to the intensive care unit.

Mr. Kaboudvand was previously transferred to Taleqani Hospital on May 21 while on hunger strike but was returned without receiving medical treatment.

Mr. Kaboudvand has been in detention since July 1, 2007 and was condemned by a bogus court to 10 years in prison for “acting against security.”

He suffers from several ailments, including cardiac and renal diseases, and the persistence of the present conditions is very dangerous for him.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in a statement on May 18 reiterated its “deep concern” about arbitrary arrests of journalists in Iran and the conditions in which they are held, adding that it is “particularly worried” about Mr. Kaboudvand (Mohammad Sadegh Kabodvand), who is on hunger strike.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran on May 24 called on all defenders of human rights, particularly the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel and inhumane punishments, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, to take urgent and effective action to secure the release of the political prisoners on hunger strike including Mr. Kaboudvand.