Concerns Raised Over Alireza Golipour's Deteriorating Health in Evin Prison

Alireza Golipour's lawyer, who has been sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of 'espionage', reported that her client is experiencing 'seizures and a heart attack' in Evin Prison and stated that she has repeatedly warned the prosecutor, the judge, and the investigating judge about his 'critical health condition' but they have 'not paid attention'. Azita Gharebaghi, in an interview with the Human Rights Campaign in Iran, mentioned that her client suffers from 'lung disease, lymph node infection, heart problems, and epilepsy' and had a 'heart attack' last week. According to Ms. Gharebaghi, her client needs to undergo 'scans and echocardiograms', but despite the prosecutor's approval, the Ministry of Intelligence has opposed transferring him to the hospital. She emphasized that her client's sentence has been issued and that the Ministry of Intelligence, as the judicial authority in the case, no longer has the right to comment on his transfer to the hospital. This lawyer stated: 'Tomorrow, they should not say that my client committed suicide or died of a heart attack; my client is not suicidal, and whatever happens to his heart and arteries that leads to a heart attack, the blood is on the judiciary's hands.' According to the Human Rights Campaign in Iran, Alireza Golipour, born in 1986 and an employee of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, was arrested in October 2012. This website reported that he was sentenced to 39 years in prison in 2016, and with the application of Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, 15 years of this sentence was enforceable. He was ultimately sentenced to 12 years in prison. Golipour's lawyer stated that her client confessed in court to having 'been in contact with the US embassy in the UAE and transferred information from Natanz and some information regarding the officials of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government'. Numerous reports have previously been published regarding the lack of medical care for political prisoners. Among them, Mohsen Daghighi and Hassan Nahid, two prisoners in Ward 350 of Evin Prison, also died despite severe illnesses without being granted medical leave and treatment outside of prison. Alireza Rajai, a journalist and a national-religious activist, lost his right eye and part of the muscles and bones on the right side of his face after surgery. In recent years, many political prisoners, including Hadi Saber and Akbar Mohammadi, have died due to lack of medical care during hunger strikes.