Grave concern over health status of human rights defender Hossein Ronaghi Maleki

On August 9, 2013, Mr. Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki started ahunger strike to protest the authorities’ ongoing refusal to allow him tocontinue his medical treatment out of Evin prison in Tehran. His mother, Ms.Zolaykha Mousavi, also started a hunger strike on August 20, 2013 to drawattention to his plight.

Mr. Ronaghi-Maleki has been suffering from kidney and heartproblems and bladder inflammation. Since the beginning of his hunger strike, hehas suffered kidney bleeding, blood pressure oscillations and arrhythmic heartbeats. He has already undergone several operations on his kidneys that weredamaged after being repeatedly tortured during his detention, including 13months in solitary confinement.

While on sick leave from prison, Mr. Ronaghi-Maleki was arrestedon August 22, 2012, along with dozens of other activists who had travelled toEast Azerbaijan province to help the victims of an earthquake (see PressRelease of the Observatory dated September 11, 2012).

He has been serving a 15-year prison sentence after being arrestedon December 13, 2010 and convicted on charges of “membership of Iran-ProxyInternet Group”, “spreading propaganda against the system”, “insulting theIranian Supreme Leader and the President”.

The Observatory firmly denounces the appalling disregard for thehealth conditions of Mr. Ronaghi-Maleki and urges his immediate transfer toappropriate medical facilities.

The Observatoryalso calls upon the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr.Ronaghi-Maleki and all human rights defenders arbitrarily detained, and toconform with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rightsinstruments ratified by Iran.