Reza Khandan Goes on Hunger Strike; Prisoner Dies in Evin Quarantine

Reza Khandan's daughter reports that the detained civil activist officially began his hunger strike on Monday morning, December 23. She also announced the death of a prisoner in quarantine at Evin Prison due to unspecified reasons. Mehraveh Khandan, Reza Khandan's child, wrote on her Instagram account: "My father officially began his hunger strike this morning." She had previously stated on Sunday that her father had been "transferred from quarantine to the general ward of the prison" and is being held in a Hosseiniyeh, which is part of the public space and does not even have suitable conditions for sleeping. She also mentioned that Reza Khandan would go on hunger strike from Monday morning if his conditions did not improve. She reported that "a prisoner named Mehdi Khodai" sadly died in quarantine on Sunday morning, December 2, and "the cause of his death is still unknown." Reza Khandan, a civil activist, was arrested on Friday, December 14, by the police at his home to enforce a sentence related to a case from 2018. Nasrin Sotoudeh, a well-known Iranian lawyer and Mr. Khandan's wife, told Voice of America that he was arrested by security police officers at the 138th precinct of Janatabad. According to Ms. Sotoudeh, the officers initially told her husband that he needed to come to the precinct to explain a traffic violation, but when he insisted, they were forced to show a warrant for enforcing a sentence related to six years ago. Abram Paley, the U.S. Special Representative for Iran, recently condemned Reza Khandan's arrest by Iranian authorities and emphasized the need for his immediate release. Nasrin Sotoudeh stated in an interview with Voice of America that her husband was arrested and imprisoned based on a sentence for a closed case related to the production of pixels stating "I protest against compulsory hijab."