Abbas Vahidian Hospitalized in Prison Due to 'Heart Disease'

The lawyer of Abbas Vahidian Shahroodi, a political prisoner, states that his client has been hospitalized in the prison medical facility of Vakilabad in Mashhad due to 'heart disease.' Ali Sharifzadeh Ardekan, a lawyer, wrote on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, June 1, that Mr. Vahidian 'needs to be transferred and treated in specialized centers and the execution of his sentence should be postponed, which unfortunately has not yet been approved.' Amnesty International expressed concern about the health status of this political prisoner last Esfand and called for his 'immediate and unconditional' release. This international human rights organization stated in its statement that Abbas Vahidian has been detained solely for exercising his natural and human right to peaceful protest and is currently facing deliberate deprivation of adequate medical care in prison, which has caused him 'severe pain and suffering.' Abbas Vahidian Shahroodi is a teacher and writer and one of 14 civil and political activists in Iran who, on June 11, 2019, published an open letter calling for Ali Khamenei to resign from the leadership of the Iranian government and for fundamental changes to the constitution. Mr. Vahidian Shahroodi, who was also arrested and sentenced in 2018 due to his civil and political activities, was tried in the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad after publishing this letter. He has been sentenced to a total of 21 years of imprisonment for charges such as 'acting against national security' and 'collaborating with opposition groups.'