Mother of political prisoner Nader Afshare, 26, who was arrested on February 1, says he has been on strike in Tehran’s Evin prison since Feb 4. She last saw her son on Feb 8 and is now asking everyone to be her son’s voice, emphasizing he did nothing wrong and was arrested for his human rights activities. Human rights activist Nader Afshari has been charged with “acting against national security.” He had currently been held at ward 209.
Iranian regime started to arrest of renowned human rights defenders since January 1st, 2018, as the latest episode in a long crackdown on any form of peaceful activism in the country.
Amnesty International raised grave concerns about the “coordinated arrests” of Iranian activists which started with the arrest of Shima Babaei and her husband Dariush Zand, Saeed Eghbali, Leila Farjami, Mahmoud Masoumi and Behnam Mousivand.
The statement reads in part: “These arrests are only the latest episode in a long crackdown on any form of human rights work in Iran, intended to wipe out the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in the country. We urge the Iranian authorities to stop this attack on human rights defenders and allow them to work in a safe environment without fear of reprisals.”
Notably dozens of university students and young human rights defenders, have already been detained and denied freedom.
