Mohammad Ashtiani has been denied medical treatment in the Central Prison of Karaj. Political prisoner Mohammad Ashtiani Araghi, 57, is in dire health conditions. He suffers from high blood pressure, Asthma, and hernia. He has been deprived of having access to his medications. This is particularly dangerous for his health considering the pandemic.
Authorities of the prison’s clinic have told Mr. Ashtiani that they do not have sufficient budget to give him medicine for blood pressure. The prison authorities have also prevented him from going to the clinic to follow up on his illnesses.
Political prisoner Mohammad Ashtiani is married with two children. He was a political prisoner during the 1980s, as well. He was arrested in Tehran in March 2018 and transferred to the Department of Intelligence where he was tortured and interrogated.
He was subsequently transferred to the Central Prison of Karaj. He has been sentenced to three years in prison and payment of heavy fine for “propaganda against the state”, “insulting Ali Khamenei” and “supporting the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.”
Mr. Ashtiani has been sleeping on the floor for two years and does not even have a bed and a specific room in this prison.
Withholding medical treatment is a common tactic used by Iranian authorities to put pressure on political prisoners.
Amnesty International, United Nations Experts, and other human rights organizations have documented numerous occasions on which authorities deprived prisoners in Iran of needed care.
