Jailed Iranian activist Behnam Mousivand was beaten and transferred from Evin Prison to solitary confinement at Rajaei Prison in Karaj on Wednesday. He has been on hunger strike to protest his abrupt transfer.
In a phone call to his family, Mosivand told them that “as soon as he was transferred to solitary confinement, he went on a hunger strike and refused sugar and salt and only drank water.”
Behnam Mousivand was recently denied treatment in a hospital despite his serious health condition because he had refused handcuffs and shackles on the way to the hospital.
He left his ward in Evin Prison on Wednesday after he received a judicial letter stating that he would be sent to a hospital by the prison authorities.
However, he was taken to an “unknown place” after leaving his ward where he was beaten and forcibly handcuffed.
According to reports, in the past few days, the authorities prevented him from being transferred to a hospital outside the prison despite his deteriorating health condition, and the head of Evin Prison even threatened to transfer him to another place.
Earlier on April 19, Behnam Mosivand was beaten by prison authorities for refusing to wear handcuffs and shackles while he was heading to receive medical treatment outside of the prison.
He went on a 16-day hunger strike the same day to protest his brutal treatment by prison guards after his state of health seriously deteriorated.
Mosivand was taken to hospital on April 28 for suffering health complications and he ended his strike on May 5 when representatives of the judiciary visited him in the hospital and promised to address his demands.
Behnam Mosivand is serving a total of six years on convictions for “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the system.”
Mousivand, 35, has been arrested several times for his political activism.
