Iranian-Dutch Dual National and Dissident Imprisoned in Tehran Denied Medical Care
Update: Sabri Hassanpour was released in April 2018.
The officials of Evin Prison are denying Sabri Hassanpour, an Iranian-born citizen of the Netherlands and outspoken critic of the Islamic Republic who has been imprisoned in Iran since March 2016, open-heart surgery, according to an informed source.
The source told the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that prison officials continue to refuse requests by Hassanpour for hospitalization outside the prison to receive the surgery, which was recommended by a doctor.
“We don’t know what the Dutch government or embassy have done for him, if anything,” said the source.
Hassanpour’s wife is unable to follow up on his case because she lives in Holland with their child and can’t travel to Iran to pursue his case with the Judiciary without also risking arrest, added the source.
Political prisoners in Iran are routinely singled out for harsh treatment, which often includes denial of medical care.
The Revolutionary Guards’ Intelligence Organization arrested Hassanpour, 65, in March 2016 in the southern city of Khorramshahr while he was visiting his relatives for the Persian new year, the source told the Campaign.
Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court put him on trial in late November 2016 for “propaganda against the state and acting against national security” said the source.
He is still awaiting a verdict.
Hassanpour has described himself as a “film director, cameraman, and theater and film actor,” on his Twitter account. He was also the host of Rahaaee TV, a small satellite channel and YouTube account promoting anti-government views.
