Urgent Action: Iranian Blogger on Medical leave Called Back to Prison

 Saturday, July 4, 2015 12:38:06 PM


Hussein Rinaghi Maleki, an Iranian blogger, has been told he must return to Evin prison, to resume serving his 13-years verdict.

Hussein has been reportedly on medical leave since mid-June, for immediate specialized medical treatment.

If he returns back to the prison, he would be a prisoner of conscience as Amnesty International.

Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, 29, was detained in Malekan, East Azerbaijan Province, on December 13, 2009, for his activities in connection with the peaceful protests that followed the 2009 election and convicted to 15-years in prison by Judge Pirabbasi for "acting against national security" and "supporting and receiving money from foreign organizations" as rights groups said.

Recently, Amnesty International has postured an action to support the civil rights activist Atena Daemi acting and sending a message in its website as well.

 

Amnesty International has made a stand and expressed concern over Hussein's critical situation and wrote in its official website;

 

Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was allowed out of Tehran's Evin Prison on 17 June 2015, on medical leave, to receive urgent specialized medical care. He was told on 29 June, however, by the authorities that he must return [to prison]" Since then, the authorities have repeated this message by phone almost every day. He has told Amnesty International that he does not intend to do so, because he wants to "protest against this illegal behaviour' by the authorities. He told the Prosecutor General of Tehran that he would either go to the hospital for the medical care he needs, or sit opposite the prison so that they do not think he is running away". If he does not report to prison as instructed, the authorities may take him back to prison by force.

Hossein Ronaghi Maleki has only one functioning kidney and needs constant specialized medical care, which he cannot get in prison. He has told Amnesty International that he and his family are not doing well because of psychological pressure from the authorities, as well as anxiety about his serious health problems.

He was arrested on 13 December 2009 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for offences including "membership of the [illegal] internet group "Iran Proxy", "spreading propaganda against the system" and "insulting the Supreme Leader", apparently in connection with articles he posted on his blog. After his arrest, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was held in solitary confinement for over a year, during which he has said he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated, which possibly contributed to his poor health.

 

Please write immediately in English, Persian, Spanish or your own language:

  •       Calling on the Iranian authorities to allow Hossein Ronaghi Maleki to remain free and have urgent specialized medical care in hospital outside prison;
  •       Reminding them that his conviction and sentence must be quashed as they stem from peacefully exercisign his right to freedom of expression and assocation.
  •        Calling on them to ensure that his allegations of torture and other ill-treatment while in solitary confinement are independently and impartially investigated.

 

 PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 14 AUGUST 2015 TO:

Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran:

Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei

The office of the Supreme Leader

Islamic Republic Street  End of Shahid

Keshvar Doust Street

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Email: (via website http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?

p=letter

Twitter: @khamenei_ir (English),

@Khamenei_ar (Arabic),

@Khamenei_es (Spanish).

Salutation: Your Excellency

 

Head of the Judiciary:

Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani

c/o Public Relations Office

Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Salutation: Your Excellency

Email: [email protected]

 

And copies to:

Abbas Ja'fari Dolat Abadi

Prosecutor General of Tehran

Tehran General and Revolutionary Prosecution Office

Corner (Nabsh-e) of 15 Khordad Square

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

 

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:

Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the second update of UA 236/13. Further information:https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/036/2013/en/

 

 

Amnesty International also added that "Hossein has been granted medical leave from prison several times. Before he began his most recent medical leave, on 17 June 2015, he had been held in Section 7 of Evin Prison, where he had been taken shortly after he was ordered to return from his previous medical leave. While he was on that medical leave, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was told to submit his medical records to the Prosecutor's office for inspection. When he went to do so, on 28 February 2015, he was arrested to resume serving his sentence. From then until June 2015, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki's health deteriorated rapidly. Though the prison authorities transferred him to the hospital at least four times, he was never given any medical attention and was never given the specialized care for his kidney that he requires continually to maintain his health.

When he was put on trial in 2010, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was denied access to his lawyer and has said he told the judge he had been tortured, but the judge answered that he"deserved it". He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by a Revolutionary Court. In June 2015, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was informed that his sentenced had been reduced to 13 years."

Amnesty International said the Iranian authorities frequently transfer prisoners in need of medical care to hospital, but we believe that prisoners are not always provided actual medical care and instead are simply returned to prison. Whether done on purpose or by neglect, failing to provide adequate medical care to vulnerable prisoners is a breach of Iran's international human rights obligations. The denial of medical treatment may amount to a violation of the absolute prohibition against torture and other ill-treatment, provided in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party. Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Iran is also a state party, recognizes the right of all persons to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health."

Prisoners who require specialized medical care must be taken to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals and clinics. Prison medical facilities and clinics must be adequately equipped and staffed to provide appropriate medical care and treatment to prisoners as the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners stated.

"Iran's own prison regulations are also routinely flouted by prison and judicial officials. The regulations governing the administration of Iranian prisons stipulate that a prisoner suffering from a serious medical condition that cannot be treated inside prison, or whose condition will worsen if they stay in prison, should be granted medical leave in order to receive treatment."