Mohammad Habibi, a member of the board of directors of the Teacher’s Trade Association of Tehran, has been denied access adequate medical treatment at the Great Tehran Penitentiary.
He was battered and violently detained after participating in a peaceful demonstration on May 10, outside the Iranian government’s planning and budget office building in Tehran.
Mr. Habibi suffers shortness of breath and cardiac arrhythmia due to being beaten when arrested. He also suffers kidney disease yet only received a quick check-up in the prison clinic.
Habibi’s relatives demanded his transfer from the Great Tehran Penitentiary to Evin Prison, but prison authorities did not respond to their request as yet.
Although a bail has been set for Habibi, judiciary officials have so far refused to release him. He is being kept in a quarantine ward, in violation of Article 69 of Iran’s State Prisons Organization’s regulations.
That article states: “All convicts, upon being admitted to walled prisons or rehabilitation centers, will be separated based on the type and duration of their sentence, prior record, character, morals and behavior, in accordance with decisions made by the Prisoners Classification Council.”
