Sixth Week of Hunger Strike by Civil Activist from Tabriz

Morteza Moradpour, 29 years old, has been pursued due to his participation in the "El Goli Walking Conference in Tabriz" in June 2009 and was arrested three days later in a student dormitory by intelligence agents. He has been on hunger strike for 44 days now. The mentioned conference was officially permitted by the government and had recreational and sports aspects, but during this event, some national activists chanted slogans in support of the right to education in their mother tongue and concerning the drying of Lake Urmia, which led to the arrest of several individuals, including Moradpour. He was tried in the Tabriz Revolutionary Court and sentenced to one year in prison for propaganda against the Islamic Republic and two years for conspiracy to commit a crime against national security. Moradpour served part of his sentence six months after his arrest and was released on bail, but has been imprisoned again for the past 13 months. Ferdin Moradpour, Morteza's brother, who recently managed to have a meeting with him, told Radio Farda that he has lost significant weight and is being held in solitary confinement. "The mentioned ward lacks heating facilities, and despite this, the authorities of Karaj prison even refuse to deliver his winter clothes. They have also denied him the right to bathe and maintain hygiene. Furthermore, considering his hunger strike, they only provide him with three cups of water a day." Naghi Mahmoudi, a lawyer and human rights activist residing in Germany, who has previously represented dozens of political activists from Azerbaijan and was Morteza Moradpour's lawyer during the execution of sentences, stated in an interview with Radio Farda that "the actions taken by the judicial authorities and prison officials in Tabriz against Morteza Moradpour constitute psychological torture, which can even lead to various irreparable diseases and consequently physical torture." Morteza Moradpour has been on hunger strike since November 4 of this year in protest against the non-application of Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code and the rejection of his request in this regard. Mahmoudi explains that according to this article, "if the accused has committed multiple crimes, instead of being sentenced to multiple punishments, he is only sentenced to the punishment that is heavier than all others." According to him, Moradpour was severely beaten on the eighth day of his hunger strike in protest against the harassment of other prisoners by prison officials, to the extent that he lost consciousness as a result of this beating. Mahmoudi states that "two days after this incident, he was transferred to Karaj prison along with another political activist from Azerbaijan, Rasoul Razavi. His repeated requests for referral to forensic medicine for examination and determination of the type and extent of his injuries have yielded no results. Additionally, the authorities of Karaj prison are keeping him in solitary confinement without heating facilities and are not providing him with warm clothes. He has been deprived of bathing for several weeks." Despite his severe physical and mental weakness, Morteza Moradpour "told his brother in their recent meeting that he will not end his hunger strike under any circumstances and that Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code must be applied."