Armita Paveer, Imprisoned Student: I Have No Underlying Illness; The Islamic Republic Is Responsible for Any Incident

Armita Paveer, a imprisoned student activist, has stated in an audio file during her hunger strike that the authorities of the government bear "direct" responsibility for any problems that arise for her. This molecular biology student at Tabriz University has been in detention since September 21 and began her hunger strike on November 3 in protest of the uncertainty surrounding her case. According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Paveer emphasized in her audio message from Tabriz Central Prison that "I have no underlying or mental illness, and any problems that arise for me will be directly the responsibility of the authorities and the system." So far, official sources of the Islamic Republic have attributed the deaths of several protesters and detainees to "suicide," "stroke," and "underlying illness," or in some cases accused them of having mental illnesses. According to this report, Paveer was transferred to the hospital once in recent days due to her deteriorating health. According to the Telegram channel of the National Student Guild Councils, she has gone on hunger strike in protest against "pressure from security agencies" to express remorse and for forced confessions, as well as their "obstruction" in accepting bail and preventing her release. Based on notifications that Paveer previously published on her X (formerly Twitter) page, she has been charged with "propaganda against the regime," "disruption of public order," and "disturbing public opinion." Prior to this, a notification had summoned this former political prisoner on September 26 of this year. This student activist was first arrested on November 30, 2022, during nationwide protests and was released on December 8 on a bail of 250 million tomans. Pressure on students, repression, and harassment of them, especially female students, have intensified since the nationwide protests of "Women, Life, Freedom." The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, claimed on September 26 of this year that "enemies" consider universities as "the focal point of all their efforts" to "distort minds, capture hearts, dominate the space of thought and beliefs of our youth."