Athena Daemi and Golrokh Iraee, Two Political Prisoners, Have Gone on Hunger Strike

According to reports from various websites including "Kalemeh", Athena Daemi and Golrokh Iraee, two political prisoners, have gone on hunger strike in protest against their "illegal transfer" to Qarchak prison since Saturday, February 3rd. Meanwhile, these two political prisoners announced in a letter that they had given judicial authorities 10 days to return them to Evin prison. According to the report, they have been on a wet hunger strike since Saturday in protest against the "violation of the law regarding the separation of crimes and illegal exile" to Qarchak prison. In their letter, they threatened that if they are not returned to Evin prison within a week and if political prisoner Soheil Arabi is not returned to his previous ward, they will start a dry hunger strike from February 10th. The Iran Human Rights Campaign also announced on February 27th that Arash Sadeghi, a political prisoner, has gone on hunger strike in protest against the "beating and illegal exile" of his wife, Golrokh Iraee, to Qarchak prison in Varamin. Reports also indicate that Soheil Arabi has gone on hunger strike again in protest against the beating of civil activist prisoners, Athena Daemi and Golrokh Iraee. Several websites reported in October that after images of Arash Sadeghi with Soheil Arabi and Ismail Abdi in the yard of ward 350 of Evin prison were published, this ward was closed and Soheil Arabi was transferred to ward 8 of Evin prison. Reports indicate that Golrokh Iraee and Athena Daemi were transferred to Qarchak prison in Varamin on January 24th after "severe beating". The news site Harana had previously mentioned that the reason for the transfer of these two political prisoners to Qarchak prison was their "refusal to cooperate in questioning regarding their new case". This website stated without details that the new charge against these two prisoners was "disruption of prison order". Golrokh Iraee was arrested on September 6, 2014, along with her husband, Arash Sadeghi. In May 2015, she was sentenced to six years in prison for "insulting sacred values and propaganda against the regime" by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, a sentence that was upheld by Branch 54 of the Appeals Court. Athena (Fatemeh) Daemi, 29 years old, was arrested on October 21, 2014, and was interrogated for 86 days in solitary confinement in ward 2A. On January 17 of the same year, after the end of interrogations, she was transferred to the women's ward of Evin prison. She was sentenced to 14 years in prison for "propaganda against the regime, assembly and collusion against national security, insulting the leadership, insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic, and concealing evidence of a crime". This sentence was reduced to seven years in the appeals court.