Sepideh Gholian Declares 'Unlimited Hunger Strike' in Protest Against the Exile of Saeed Madani and Other Political Prisoners

A news source reported that Sepideh Gholian, a political prisoner held in Evin, has declared an 'unlimited hunger strike' in protest against the 'exile of Saeed Madani, herself, and all exiled prisoners.' According to the Hengaw website on Wednesday, April 3, Gholian is also demanding 'to be transferred to a prison closer to her residence.' The transfer of political prisoners to jails far from their homes, which Iranian authorities use as a method of further punishment, makes it difficult for their families to visit them. Currently, some other prisoners, including the parents of Pouya Bakhtiari, a protester killed during the November 2019 protests, are also imprisoned in jails far from their homes; Manoochehr Bakhtiari is in Chubin Prison in Qazvin and Nahid Shirpich is in Zanjan Prison. Sepideh Gholian has previously protested her 'exile in various prisons of the Islamic Republic.' For instance, in a letter in December 2023, she wrote: 'I have been in exile for years. Throughout these years, I have done everything to lift this sentence; correspondence, negotiation, dispute, sit-in, hunger strike. I have said that my family's life and bread are in danger, traveling thousands of kilometers every week is a misery.' She also emphasized: 'I have been sentenced to exile by the Ministry of Intelligence for five years.' Gholian was re-arrested and transferred to Evin Prison on March 15, 2023, while returning from Tehran to Khuzestan shortly after being released from prison. The exile of political prisoners and the difficulties imposed on their families for in-person visits have previously endangered the lives of family members. For example, in 2013, the mother and wife of Peyman (Amir Reza) Arefi, a political prisoner exiled to Masjed Soleiman Prison, lost their lives in a car accident while returning to Tehran from visiting him.