One-Month Hunger Strike of Rasool Razavi in Tabriz Prison

Rasool Razavi is currently on the twenty-eighth day of his hunger strike, during which, according to a close associate, he has lost a significant amount of weight and has become very physically weak. Razavi was first arrested during the government-organized Quds Day rally in 2015 by agents of the Ashura Intelligence Corps in Tabriz's Saat Square along with several others. The reason for his arrest was stated in a ruling issued by the head of the second branch of the Tabriz Revolutionary Court as 'possessing certain images and writings deemed deviant and a flag of the minority of Turkish-speaking individuals from China.' Additionally, the presiding judge, 'Imani,' stated that 'the actions of the individuals disrupted the order of the rally and had negative repercussions on the political relations of the country with foreign governments.' Consequently, based on Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code, Rasool Razavi and two other defendants were sentenced to one year of imprisonment, with six months of that sentence suspended for two years. Regarding the charge of disturbing public opinion, a ruling of incompetence for handling the case in criminal courts was issued. Mr. Razavi was arrested for the second time last November during protests against the controversial 'Fiteeleh' program in Tabriz and has been imprisoned in Tabriz since then under a temporary detention order. Naqi Mahmoudi, a former lawyer for Turkish activists residing in Germany, commented on the status of Razavi's case and the charges against him in an interview with Radio Farda, stating: 'The charge of propaganda against the Islamic Republic is one of the charges commonly attributed to political activists in revolutionary courts due to its broad scope and interpretability. However, in relation to Rasool Razavi's activities, such a charge cannot be attributed as he has not committed any material act that constitutes the material element of the crime of propaganda against the Islamic Republic.'