Taher Ghaderian's Mother: My Son's Health Condition in Evin Prison is Critical

The mother of Taher Ghaderian, one of the defendants in the case known as environmental activists, reported on Wednesday, March 13, about her son's weight loss and deteriorating health condition in prison. According to IRNA, after visiting her son in Evin Prison, she stated: "In the recent meeting I had with Taher, he was not in good health and had lost a lot of weight." Amnesty International has warned of the possibility of a death sentence for imprisoned environmental activists in Iran. Taher Ghaderian, along with Sam Rajabi, Amir Hossein Khalighi, Hooman Jokar, Sepideh Kashani, Niloufar Bayani, Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, and Morad Tahbaz, was arrested last year on charges of "spying for foreigners" by the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a charge that the Ministry of Intelligence and the Supreme National Security Council of Iran have denied, although the judiciary and the IRGC insist on it. Ghaderian's mother stated that her son has developed Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and needs treatment outside of prison. She also responded to the question of whether her son's lawyer, who had received permission from the judge for a meeting during the fifth court session, was able to meet with him, saying: "Unfortunately, despite nearly a month passing since the judge's order for a meeting, this has not happened, and the reason is that during the first visit for the meeting, they told him that the case expert was not present, so the meeting could not take place." She continued: "In the second instance, when the lawyer's experts contacted the prison for the meeting, they were asked for a power of attorney, while electronic power of attorney has been in place for about a year, and since the experts did not accept the electronic power of attorney, the meeting did not take place again, and we are still waiting for the cooperation of the case experts to arrange the meeting." While five sessions of the court for these eight environmental activists have been held, the lawyers appointed by these activists have not been present in these sessions, and only three lawyers deemed "trustworthy" by the judiciary are supposed to defend them. Meanwhile, Kazem Hosseini, one of these lawyers, previously reported that IRGC agents do not even allow these lawyers to speak with the environmental activists during the court session. IRNA states that the environmental activists' case has eight defendants, for whom the prosecutor of the Revolutionary Court has issued an indictment for four on the charge of "corruption on earth," three on the charge of "spying," and one on the charge of "gathering and colluding against national security." According to this report, the charge of four defendants in this case was initially spying, which later changed to corruption on earth. International human rights organizations have criticized the trial proceedings and the prosecution of these environmental activists. In this context, the United Nations Environment Program has expressed "deep" concern about the trial of these eight imprisoned environmental activists and called on the Islamic Republic to support the legal rights of individuals who have dedicated their lives to the unique environment of their country.