Zahra Sarv's Hunger Strike Enters Eleventh Day; Informed Source to VOA: Protests Against Ongoing Case Fabrication

An informed source close to Zahra Sarv, who has been on a hunger strike since Thursday, December 2, warned about her health risks and told VOA that prison officials and the prosecutor's office are neglecting the health of this political prisoner. The source, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, mentioned on Monday, December 13, that Zahra Sarv decided to go on a hunger strike 'in protest against ongoing case fabrication,' referring to a letter of support from other political prisoners Mahbubeh Rezaei and Sepideh Gholian, who warned about her deteriorating health. The source stated that Zahra Sarv is consuming 'sugar and saline' and 'water' and has 'decided to enter a dry hunger strike,' while her fellow inmates and friends are trying to dissuade her. The informed source also said that Zahra Sarv's 'permanent interrogator' is preventing her from 'leaving on leave or being granted conditional release,' and despite her complaints to the prosecutor's office and the prison organization, 'her voice has not reached anywhere,' thus 'the only way for her was to go on a hunger strike,' and now she is 'putting her life on the line' to protest this situation. According to the source close to Zahra Sarv, she was released for '45 days' after spending two and a half years in Qarchak prison in 1400 (2021), and after that, she was re-arrested and has been in Evin prison for 'almost three years.' During this time, after a fire last year in Evin, she was taken out of prison under the pretext of being sent to the hospital, and she was exiled to Qarchak prison for nearly 'five months.' The source emphasized that the 'interrogator and judge from the previous case' are also involved in Zahra Sarv's current case, and the interrogator has made 'demands' from her, and since Zahra Sarv has refused to confess or accept them, 'the threats from the first day continue.' The informed source also mentioned that since Zahra Sarv's mother is 'bedridden' and cannot visit her in prison, she is also deprived of visits. Based on a doctor's assessment during a visit a few weeks ago in the hospital, Zahra Sarv's 'cruciate ligament and meniscus in her right leg' are 'torn,' and the doctor stated that 'last year when she was injured, it could have been treated with medication and physiotherapy, but now she definitely needs surgery.' According to the source, the surgery 'must be performed at Taleghani Hospital,' and 'before that, several sessions of physiotherapy are needed to prepare her muscles for surgery,' but now she is on a hunger strike, and this issue has faced 'indifference' from the authorities. Additionally, Mahbubeh Rezaei and Sepideh Gholian, in a letter from Evin prison that has also been reflected on social media, warned about 'the deterioration of Zahra Sarv's health due to the hunger strike' and stated that this political prisoner 'has gone on a hunger strike in protest against the injustices she has suffered since Mehr 1400 (September 2021) and four months of inhumane exile to Qarchak prison until today.' These two political prisoners emphasized that the judge 'issued a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence for her at the interrogator's order,' and the interrogator told Zahra Sarv, 'You can only be released if you agree to work for the IRGC in Iraq.' They stressed in the letter that 'despite one-third of her sentence being served and the prison classification council's approval,' the judge 'refuses to grant Ms. Sarv conditional release without any valid reasons, simply saying the interrogator said no!' Zahra Sarv has been on a hunger strike since Thursday, December 2, and an informed source on the fifth day of this political monarchist's hunger strike told VOA that 'her blood sugar has dropped to 74 and her blood pressure to 75 over 50.' On the eighth day of this political prisoner's hunger strike, some human rights sources expressed concern about her health, and now other sources have warned of the danger to her life if she continues her hunger strike.