Official Judiciary Organ Denies Death of Sara Deldar Due to Worsening Illness in Prison

Following reports of the death of Sara Deldar, a former political prisoner from Rasht, due to "infections from pellet wounds" and "worsening serious liver and kidney problems in prison," the official news agency of the Judiciary rejected these reports. Sara Deldar was sentenced to over one year and three months in prison for promoting corruption and immorality by posting images of herself without adhering to mandatory hijab on social media, and for insulting sacred values due to a tweet about Qassem Soleimani. However, after spending more than six months in prison, her conditional release was approved, but recently news of her death reached the media. The "Mizan" news agency, in response to these reports, stated in an article published on Tuesday, September 20, that this Gilan activist "had no physical injuries, wounds, or pellet marks on her body upon entering Lakan Prison in Rasht" and claims that "this is officially recorded in the minutes." However, this news agency has not provided any evidence to substantiate this claim. Mizan also denied reports about Ms. Deldar's underlying illness, stating that "upon entering Lakan Prison in Rasht, she did not mention any history of illness or medication use." Reports about Ms. Deldar's death due to worsening illness in prison were first published by the "Bidar Zani" website, and subsequently, a former cellmate of this political prisoner, who preferred to remain anonymous for security reasons, confirmed this news in an interview with Radio Farda. According to this former cellmate, Sara Deldar was imprisoned in Lakan Prison in Rasht for over six months due to lack of bail, and after her release, she faced "physical weakness, enlarged spleen, edema and ascites leading to liver and kidney failure, along with infections from remaining pellets in her body" and died. The former cellmate stated that during her time in Lakan Prison, she witnessed that "multiple pellets were still lodged in Sara Deldar's legs, head, and neck, and due to her pains, she always took painkillers from the infirmary and suffered from insomnia." Sara Deldar herself, in her last post on Instagram on July 1 of this year, mentioned the harsh conditions of prison, stating that her illness worsened from the second month of her imprisonment. According to informed sources, this former political prisoner was detained despite having a "serious liver problem" and "the need for a transplant." Nevertheless, the Judiciary news agency of the Islamic Republic stated that she entered and exited the prison in "complete physical health" and that "in recent months, she had developed liver disease and was receiving treatment in the provinces of Rasht and Tehran." The official organ of the Iranian Judiciary also claimed without providing evidence that reports about Sara Deldar's death due to the impact of prison conditions on her physical condition are part of a "planned fabrication by adversaries to create a tense atmosphere in society." Sara Deldar is not the first political prisoner to die after being released from prison. In recent years, several ideological and political prisoners with underlying illnesses have lost their lives due to prison conditions and the deterioration of their physical problems while in custody. The Islamic Republic of Iran has never taken responsibility for the deaths of these individuals and has always claimed that all of them received "appropriate and timely" medical and treatment services.