Mother of Hengameh Shahidi: My Daughter's Health Condition is 'Severely Critical'

The mother of Hengameh Shahidi, a jailed journalist and political activist, announced that her daughter's health condition is 'severely critical' after 24 days of hunger strike in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. Nahid Kermaneshahi stated in an interview with the Iran Human Rights Campaign website that on April 1, during a phone call from Evin Prison in the presence of her interrogator, Hengameh Shahidi said she 'can no longer walk and drags herself on the ground.' According to Kermaneshahi, the imprisoned journalist declared that 'if anything happens to me, the President, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Prosecutor's Office, and the Judiciary are responsible for my death.' She added that Hengameh Shahidi has also written her will and handed it to her interrogator. Kermaneshahi announced that due to the closure of the prosecutor's office, she has been unable to meet with her daughter's investigator. Hengameh Shahidi was arrested on March 10 in Mashhad and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran. On social media, including Shahidi's Twitter account, a handwritten note of her last writing before her arrest was published, indicating that she had received 'warnings' from 'some media and individuals close to the government' about the possibility of her arrest. She stated that there was no reason for her arrest unless there was a 'project' for the 'widespread arrest of political activists and journalists' before the presidential elections. Hengameh Shahidi also wrote an open letter from prison to Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, stating: 'You were supposed to be the breath of reformists after the suffocation of Ahmadinejad's era, not to suffocate them like Ahmadinejad to reach the presidency.' Four days before Hengameh Shahidi's arrest, Ehsan Mazandarani, the former editor-in-chief of Farhikhtegan newspaper, who had recently been released from prison, was arrested again when forces from the IRGC Intelligence Organization stormed his home. While the Tehran prosecutor stated that the reason for Ehsan Mazandarani's arrest was the 'full execution' of his previous prison sentence, the family of this imprisoned journalist announced that his prison sentence had ended. Additionally, on March 15, Morad Taghavi, the editor-in-chief of the Goftogoo magazine, was arrested at his home. Ramin Karimian, a researcher and translator and a colleague of Morad Taghavi, was also arrested on March 18. These arrests have drawn criticism from journalist advocacy organizations worldwide. Hessameddin Ashna, an advisor to Hassan Rouhani, and several members of the Hope faction in parliament reacted to the recent arrests, linking them to the upcoming presidential elections. Following this, Hassan Rouhani requested a report from the Minister of Interior regarding the 'suspicious' arrests of several media activists ahead of the elections and to prevent the 'illegal' interference of certain institutions in the elections. According to the Presidential Information Center, he made this request at the first cabinet meeting of the new year. Previously, several journalists in Iran have been arrested, including Tahereh Riahi, the social services editor of Borna News Agency, who was arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents on December 27 and, according to reports, remains imprisoned. Eisa Saharkhiz, who has been imprisoned since November 2, 2015, is still incarcerated and was sentenced to 21 months in prison by the Islamic Revolutionary Court last September. In this context, the International Federation of Journalists condemned the arrest of three journalists in Iran, the transfer of Tahereh Riahi, a jailed journalist, to the women's ward of Evin Prison, and the continued arrests of political and civil activists; the editor-in-chief of the 'Goftogoo' magazine was arrested, and the wife of Ehsan Mazandarani stated that her husband's sentence had ended. Hengameh Shahidi was arrested on 'security charges.'