Mohammad Nazari Transferred to Hospital Following Hunger Strike

Mohammad Nazari, a political prisoner in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, was transferred to the hospital following a prolonged hunger strike and severe weight loss. Several news websites, including Kurdpa, reported on Friday, October 20, that Nazari has lost 'over 25 kilograms' and his ability to speak and walk has significantly weakened due to the hunger strike. According to the report, he has received IV fluids several times but has refused to end his hunger strike. Nazari, who is in his twenty-fourth year of imprisonment, has been on hunger strike since July 30, demanding the implementation of the new Islamic Penal Code in his case. If the new law is applied, his prison sentence would be reduced to 15 years, and he, having served 24 years, should be released. On Wednesday, October 18, in the eighty-first day of his hunger strike, Nazari described himself as the 'most isolated prisoner,' stating that 'besides the people, there is no one left to listen to him.' According to his letter, Nazari has spent the past 24 years without leave in the prisons of Mahabad, Urmia, and Rajai Shahr, and despite being due for release four and a half years ago, 'invisible hands of power and security' have prevented the law from being enforced. Nazari was arrested in 1994 at the age of 23 in the city of Boukan in West Azerbaijan Province and was sentenced to death for supporting the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which was later commuted to life imprisonment. Reports indicate that Nazari has lost his father, mother, and brother in recent years and has only one sister who lives in Boukan and cannot travel to Karaj to visit him. Nazari is a Turk and a Shia, and according to some of his former cellmates, his support for a Kurdish party as a Turk Shia has caused 'increased sensitivity' from the Urmia intelligence department and 'prevented his release' in recent years. In September 2012, he also sewed his lips in protest of his situation and went on a hunger strike for 40 days.