Tabriz Political Prisoners Threatened After Hunger Strike

An informed source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that two political prisoners from the province of Azerbaijan, Dr. Latif Hassani and Ayat Mehrali Beigloo are under threats from prison authorities for additional limitations and harsher treatment. Both prisoners have gone on hunger strike inside the Special Ward of Tabriz Prison since 1 January.

The source told the Campaign that Hassani and Beigloo, who have been in detention for the past eight months, started a hunger strike on 1 January 2011 to protest their state of judicial limbo, their unsuitable detention conditions in prison, and the deprivation of all their rights. Prison authorities have ignored their demands and the two prisoners were told a few days ago that if they continue their hunger strike, their treatment would become more harsh. The Special Ward of Tabriz Prison is comprised of several small cells and lacks any hygienic or recreational facilities.

After seven months in solitary confinement under severe psychological and physical torture inside the Tabriz Intelligence Office’s Central Detention Center, Latif Hassani and Ayat Mehrali Beigloo were moved to the Special Ward of Tabriz Prison where they share a small cell with three murder convicts.