Concern from Amnesty International over the deteriorating health of Arash Sadeghi

Amnesty International issued a statement expressing concern over the deteriorating health of Arash Sadeghi, who is on a hunger strike. The statement notes that Arash Sadeghi, a human rights activist, has been on a hunger strike since October 25 in protest against the imprisonment of his wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi, and his health has worsened. Golrokh Ebrahimi has been sentenced to five years in prison for insulting religious sanctities and one year for propaganda against the regime. Arash Sadeghi has been arrested and imprisoned multiple times since the 2009 presidential elections in Iran. He has also been sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy and propaganda against the regime. Mr. Sadeghi's mother reportedly died of a heart attack during his first arrest in 2009, apparently due to the shock of security forces raiding their home at night. In 2015, Arash Sadeghi was sentenced to 15 years in prison by Judge Salavati, head of Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran. His charges include conspiracy against the regime, insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic, propaganda against the regime, and forming an illegal group. However, Arash Sadeghi stated to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran regarding the specifics and evidence of his wife's charges: 'There is no evidence for her sentences except for her stories and writings, which they considered as evidence of her charges. She wrote a story about someone who does not believe in God. In court, there was really no evidence for her charges. They mostly wanted to fabricate a case.' Mr. Sadeghi is a expelled student from Allameh Tabatabai University who was arrested by the IRGC on September 6, 2014, and was temporarily released on a bail of 700 million tomans. Previously, Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, also addressed the issue of mistreatment of Arash Sadeghi in part of his report on September 23, 2011. The report mentioned that 'Arash Sadeghi, a student activist who has been deprived of higher education, fell into a coma following a hunger strike in April 2011. Sadeghi has also reportedly suffered from physical problems such as lung infections and paralysis due to continuous beatings and torture.' During the time he was outside of prison, Mr. Sadeghi spoke to the Rooz Online website about his interrogation methods and stated that during his detention, his shoulder dislocated twice and his tooth was broken. He added that the worst physical abuse he experienced was having his hair pulled from his hands, face, and chest during interrogation.