Isa Sahrkhiz, imprisoned journalist, has gone on hunger strike again

The son of Isa Sahrkhiz, the imprisoned journalist, announced that his father has resumed a liquid hunger strike in Evin prison since Wednesday, January 6. Mehdi Sahrkhiz told Radio Farda on Thursday, January 7, that his father's hunger strike is in protest against the uncertainty surrounding his case following the end of his detention order and the expiration of its extension, and that he plans to turn it into a dry hunger strike two weeks later. Mehdi Sahrkhiz added that his father intends to refrain from taking his medications as well. Previously, reports indicated that this imprisoned journalist suffers from heart, kidney diseases, and high blood pressure. Isa Sahrkhiz was arrested on November 2 by seven agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at his home in Tehran. His arrest coincided with the arrests of Ehsan Mazandarani, Saman Safarzadeh, and Afrin Chitsaz, three other journalists by IRGC agents. Following these arrests, the IRGC's intelligence organization announced the detention of "several members of a network collaborating with hostile Western governments that were active in the country's cyberspace and media." Mehdi Sahrkhiz, the son of this journalist, stated on the day of his father's arrest that his father was detained on charges of "propaganda against the regime, insulting the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and conspiracy to gather." On Thursday, when asked about the status of his father's case and whether a trial date had been set, he said that one of the reasons for his father's hunger strike was that his case had not yet been sent to court. He added: "If my father's case had been sent to court, a bail order would have been issued for him or he would have been released." Mehdi Sahrkhiz pointed out that his father is being held in solitary confinement and is deprived of basic prisoner rights such as outdoor exercise and reading books. According to him, Isa Sahrkhiz has met with his family twice since his arrest but is deprived of regular phone contact with them. This is the second hunger strike of Isa Sahrkhiz since his arrest on November 2. At that time, Mehdi Sahrkhiz told Radio Farda that his father had threatened to start a liquid hunger strike upon his arrest and would turn it into a dry hunger strike if he was not released within two weeks. Subsequently, the Khabar Online website, close to Mir Hossein Mousavi, reported on December 20 that this journalist had temporarily ended his hunger strike after 48 days at the request of Ayatollah Sanei, a cleric supporting reformists, Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran, and Ebrahim Yazdi, the former foreign minister of Iran. According to Khabar Online, he had threatened that "if the judiciary does not issue a bail order for him by the end of January 2 or does not hold a court session, he will resume his hunger strike." Isa Sahrkhiz was the director of domestic press at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance during Mohammad Khatami's presidency. He was previously arrested in July 2009 and sentenced to three years in prison on security charges, which was increased to five years while he was in prison in 2011. This journalist was released in 2013.