Prisoner of conscience Hamed Gharehoghlani is suffering from symptoms that precede dangerous epileptic seizures due to the authorities’ persistent refusal to provide him with specialized health care and medication. He appealed his sentence of 14 years and one month imprisonment to the Supreme Court on 24 January 2021. He must be released immediately and unconditionally.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Head of judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi
c/o H.E. Majid Takht Ravanchi
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran
622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212 687-2020 I Fax: 212 867 7086
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @Iran_UN
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Mr Raisi,
Hamed Gharehoghlani, a 34-year-old prisoner of conscience held in the central prison in Urumieh, West Azerbaijan province, urgently requires specialized medical care for a serious type of epilepsy, which, if left untreated, can lead to dangerous seizures. Since his arrest on 27 June 2020, prison officials have refused to give him the prescribed medication that his family has regularly purchased and brought to the prison. The authorities have also refused to transfer him to a specialized health facility outside prison for his routine biannual neurological examination, including brain scans. He is currently suffering from repeated periods of disorientation, fatigue, headaches, and loss of muscle strength. Medical experts outside prison, consulted by his family, have warned that based on these symptoms, he is at increased risk of dangerous seizures, which can lead to serious and possibly irreversible complications including brain damage.
Hamed Gharehoghlani was sentenced by a Revolutionary Court in Urumieh to 14 years and one month imprisonment in December 2020 following an unfair trial which consisted of one hearing lasting only 10 minutes. The court convicted him in connection with his online posts, which accused Iran’s Supreme Leader of corruption, and his online exchanges with individuals who, according to the authorities, were supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), an opposition group based outside Iran, who allegedly “incited” him to tear up banners with images of the Supreme Leader and Revolutionary Guards Commander Ghasem Soleimani, killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. On this basis, the court convicted him of “insulting the Supreme Leader”, “spreading propaganda against the system”, and “membership in a group that engages in armed insurrection against the Islamic Republic system”.
Hamed Gharehoghlani is held in a ward with prisoners convicted of violent crimes who have threatened him with physical and sexual assault. I ask you to release Hamed Gharehoghlani as he is a prisoner of conscience imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of expression and association. Pending his release, ensure that he is provided with immediate and continued access to the health care he needs outside prison as well as his medication.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
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