Human rights activist Atena Daemi went on hunger strike on August 12, 2021, in protest of frequent disconnection of phone lines in Lakan Prison of Rasht.
The telephone lines of the Lakan Prison of Rasht are frequently cut off. No official in Lakan Prison answers for this problem.
Atena Daemi needs to contact her parents, particularly because they have contracted the Coronavirus. Her father, Hossein Daemi, tweeted that he and his wife had become sick with the Covid-19 after travelling to Rasht to visit Atena.
Rasht is the capital of Gilan Province, which is plagued with the Covid-19.
Atena Daemi is worried about her parents and she needs to call home to ask about their conditions but the prison’s phone lines are cut off most of the time. Her requests for fixing the lines have gone unanswered.
Atena Daemi declared to the Lakan prison authorities that she would go on hunger strike in protest of the officials’ failure to account for this problem. She started her hunger strike on August 12, and vowed to continue her strike until the problem is resolved.
Atena Daemi, a children and human rights activist, is 32 years old.
She was first arrested on October 21, 2014, and detained for 16 months for participating in a protest gathering outside the UN Office in Tehran, a protest against execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari, and other peaceful activities.
This is the third time she has gone on hunger strike.
Human rights activist Atena Daemi was arrested again on November 26, 2016, and finished serving her 5-year prison sentence on July 4, 2020. However, prison authorities did not release her and kept her to serve another five years and 74 lashes based on news cases fabricated against her by the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Intelligence Ministry (MOIS).
Political prisoner Atena Daemi was detained in the women’s ward of Evin Prison until March 16, 2021, when she was abruptly and violently moved out of Evin, and sent to exile in the Lakan Prison in Rasht.
