Isa Sahrkhiz, imprisoned journalist, has gone on a dry hunger strike

Isa Sahrkhiz's son reports that this journalist and political activist has been on a dry hunger strike in prison for the past three days. Mehdi Sahrkhiz tweeted on February 13, stating, "Isa Sahrkhiz has been on a dry hunger strike for two days now. They even took his glasses away and are pressuring him to confess to things he did not do." According to Mehdi Sahrkhiz, his father has also been denied access to "toothbrush and medicine." In another tweet, he wrote, "Isa Sahrkhiz's last words to the family were either come to Behesht Zahra to find me or to the Baqiatollah Hospital." In a letter written on February 11 to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), he states that he has been held in prison for over a hundred days "for baseless reasons, but with the aim of keeping him away from the political and social scene and participation in two crucial elections." Isa Sahrkhiz was arrested on November 2 by seven agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at his home in Tehran. Alongside him, three other journalists, Ehsan Mazandarani, Saman Safarzadeh, and Afrin Chitsaz, were also arrested by IRGC agents. His son told Radio Farda that his father was arrested on charges of propaganda against the regime, insulting the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and conspiracy to gather. He had also previously gone on a wet hunger strike for the second time last December. Sahrkhiz has been transferred to the hospital several times due to his poor health condition. In this context, Iran has been labeled as the "third largest prison" for journalists in the world in 2015, raising concerns about Isa Sahrkhiz's health in prison.