Student activist Arash Sadeghi, 26, is protesting against his inhumane treatment and is believed to be at risk of torture and in need of urgent medical care, Amnesty International said in a statement.
Mr Sadeghi was arrested several times for participating in the demonstrations that followed the disputed presidential election in 2009.
On 4 April 2010, Judge Pir-Abbas in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to 74 lashes and six years in prison after convicting him of the vaguely-worded national security charges of ‘gathering and colluding against state security’ and ‘spreading propaganda against the system’.
He was acquitted on appeal of the latter charge and his sentence reduced to one year imprisonment and four-years suspended sentence for the former.
He was arrested again in January 2012 and this current detention is unrelated to his previous case but it is believed that he is being again held under suspicion of ‘gathering and colluding against state security’, although he has not been formally charged.
Amnesty said: “Arash Sadeghi, 26, a student activist banned from pursuing his university education and member of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s student team was last arrested on 15 January 2012 and has been held in solitary confinement in Section 209 of Tehran’s Evin Prison since.
“During this period Arash Sadeghi has been permitted only two family visits with his grandfather. He has had no access to a lawyer and, despite repeated requests, his father has been unable to visit him or obtain information about his health from prison officials. His father has been intimidated and harassed by Ministry of Intelligence officials and warned against speaking to the media about his son.
No further details are known and the case is said to be ‘under investigation’, meaning that he cannot have access to legal representation.”
Amnesty said it was calling on the Iranian regime’s authorities to release Arash Sadeghi immediately and unconditionally if he is being detained solely for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
The human rights body said it was also urging to protect Arash Sadeghi from torture or other ill-treatment and to provide him with all necessary medical care, and ensure he is treated humanely, and not punished in any way for his hunger strike. They also demanded that he is removed from solitary confinement and allowed family visits and access to a lawyer of his choosing.