Saronaz Ahmadi, political prisoner, goes on 'drug strike' in Evin prison

Saronaz Ahmadi, a children's rights activist and political prisoner, has stopped taking her medication in protest against the denial of medical leave. Informed sources told Radio Farda that Ms. Ahmadi has ceased her medication for 'stress' and 'epilepsy.' According to these sources, this political prisoner has informed the authorities at Evin prison that she does not consent to use the prison's medical facilities in the event of a seizure. Saronaz Ahmadi, who suffers from epilepsy, stated that her reason for the drug strike is to protest the medical care provided, the denial of medical leave, and the lack of conditional release. Despite serving 16 months of her three-and-a-half-year sentence, she has been denied leave and her conditional release has not been approved. The news of Saronaz Ahmadi's drug strike comes as last month the website HRANA reported, citing one of her relatives, that a trusted physician of the judiciary deemed her condition critical based on test results and an EEG, and requested emergency leave for her. According to the family of Narges Mohammadi and human rights organizations that reported on the raid by Evin prison guards on the women's ward on August 7, Saronaz Ahmadi suffered from a seizure during that raid. Female political prisoners had gathered that day in protest against the execution of Reza Rasayi and in the weekly campaign 'Tuesdays No to Execution' in the prison yard. Saronaz Ahmadi, a translator, children's rights activist, and journalist, was arrested in November 2022 during the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests along with her husband, Kamiar Fakour. The Tehran Revolutionary Court had previously sentenced her to three years and six months in prison on charges of 'propaganda against the regime' and 'gathering and colluding to disrupt national security.'