Exclusive; Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb's Hunger Strike Reaches 60 Days; He Was Hospitalized on Friday

A source close to political prisoners told Voice of America on Friday, February 16, that Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb, a political prisoner held in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, was transferred to the hospital due to complications from his hunger strike. According to this source, Mr. Ahmadi Raghb was moved to Madani Hospital in Karaj due to a severe hernia and has lost over 20 kilograms, yet he remains unwilling to end his hunger strike despite his illness. It is reported that the reason for this political prisoner's hunger strike is the opening of a new case against him by the authorities of Gohardasht Prison. Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb, a political prisoner in Gohardasht Prison, stated in an audio message obtained by the Persian section of Voice of America that the intelligence and judicial bodies of the Islamic Republic have fabricated cases against him. He mentioned that he is currently serving a sentence for one of these cases, charged with 'collusion and conspiracy against the regime,' and that two other cases have also been opened against him for similar charges of 'propaganda against the regime,' one of which is ongoing in Shahriar, and he has no news about its fate and has not yet been summoned. Ahmadi Raghb, a signatory of the '14 Statement' for the transition from the Islamic Republic and the resignation of Ali Khamenei, was released from prison in Bahman 1401 (February 2023), but shortly after his release, on March 7 of the same year, while intending to participate in a teachers' rally protesting the serial poisoning of students in schools across Iran, he was arrested 'with violence.'