I Was Hospitalized for 8 Hours, No One Told Me Whether I Was Alive or Dead

Mohammad Reza Ali Payam, known as "Halo," a imprisoned poet and satirist, wrote a letter to Iran's Minister of Health detailing his transfer from "Rajai Shahr Prison" in Karaj to "Imam Khomeini Hospital" in Tehran and his hospitalization there. In the letter published on his Facebook page on Friday, January 1, he stated that after suffering a "nervous attack and seizure," he was transferred to the prison's medical facility where doctors discovered he was experiencing "complete blood failure." According to this satirist, he was transported by ambulance "lacking any basic medical facilities, even oxygen" to "Imam Khomeini Hospital" in Tehran. Upon arrival at the hospital, he was placed "on a wheeled stretcher, handcuffed and shackled, in a corner of a hallway." The main points of this poet and satirist's letter to Hassan Qazizadeh Hashemi, Iran's Minister of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education, are as follows: - During the entire eight hours I was in the hospital, I was shivering from the cold, but no one came to cover me with a blanket. - Until 7:30 PM, about eight hours later, not only was I not examined, but no one even came to ask my name, to check if I was alive or dead, to listen to my heart, check my blood pressure, or take my pulse. Only occasionally did a hospital staff member pass by and say, "Why is this person here? He is blocking the way." - The IV that was connected to me at 10 AM in the prison's medical facility ran out by 12 PM, and there was no one to disconnect it from my hand. I asked everyone who passed by, "This IV has been empty for eight hours. When will someone take it off me?" One person said a nurse would do it and walked away. The nurse said the doctor had to give the order and walked away. - When my son protested at the reception, asking why they were not attending to my needs, the woman who realized I was a political prisoner said, "I don’t even know what politics is." In the conclusion of his letter to the Minister of Health, Mohammad Reza Ali Payam wrote that "after eight hours of waiting, insult, and humiliation in the corner of the hallway, as the pressure from the handcuffs and shackles, cold, and hunger had become unbearable," he asked the prison guards to return him to prison "so that at least I could take my medications." This satirical poet emphasized that if he did not die in the hospital "from heart and brain distress, I would certainly have perished from cold and hunger." "Imam Khomeini Hospital" in Tehran began operating in the 1940s under the name "Pahlavi Hospital." Ghasem Ali Khorasani, the current head of this hospital, wrote on its website that "the name of Imam Khomeini Hospital is synonymous for every Iranian compatriot with a place that is a refuge for all the ailing who cannot find acceptance anywhere else in the country." The performance of the medical sector, hospitals, and clinics in Iran has faced widespread criticism from the media and public opinion in recent years. Several satirical and critical programs have been produced on this issue, including a series called "In the Margin," which aired during Nowruz 2015 on the Islamic Republic's Channel 3 but was later halted due to widespread protests from doctors. Mohammad Reza Ali Payam is a critic of the Islamic Republic who gained fame in recent years by reciting critical satirical poetry. He has been imprisoned several times due to complaints from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the security police. Mr. Ali Payam is currently serving his sentence for charges such as "insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran," "insulting Islamic sanctities," "insulting religious authorities," and "insulting the Supreme Leader."