NCRI – Iranian political prisoner Arjang Davoudi is on day 38 of a hunger strike in Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran.
On July 17, Mr. Davoodi went on hunger strike and stopped taking his medications in Gohardasht Prison in protest to the deplorable situation of fellow inmates.
Having finished his 33rd day of hunger strike, political prisoner Arjang Davoudi published a letter on August 18, 2016, demanding prosecution of the criminal warden of Gohardasht Prison in Karaj.
In part of his letter, Mr. Davoudi wrote, “IRGC Col. Mohammad Mardani– whom I, political prisoner Arjang Davoudi, believe must be formally prosecuted for seven counts of charges—has denied my charges…”
Mr. Davoudi noted seven counts of charges against the warden of Gohardasht and added, “Presently, the complaint is under investigation in the prison’s Department of Counter-Intelligence. In the interrogation session, it was asserted that the warden of Rajai-shahr Prison (Gohardasht) is not administratively credible, but it was emphasized that although it is easy to prove each of the charges levelled against him, since the Counter-Intelligence Department is supervised by the Warden, it refrains from carrying out the interrogations. I demanded that the interrogations and relevant investigations be carried out by judge Hajiloo who supervises the affairs of political prisoners.”
Mr. Davoodi was arrested in 2003 and held in solitary confinement for prolonged periods during which he was tortured and denied access to a lawyer and his family.
He was sentenced, in March 2005, to 25 years’ imprisonment, reduced to 10 years on appeal, on charges of “spreading propaganda against the system” and “establishing and directing an organization opposed to the government” for his peaceful activities, including directing a cultural education center, according to Amnesty International. In May 2014, he was sentenced to an additional two years’ imprisonment, on the charge of “insulting the Supreme Leader.”
Arzhang Davoodi was also sentenced to death for his political opinions and peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression.
He is believed to have been accused of having ties with the opposition People’s Mojahedin, or PMOI (MEK), merely because in prison he insisted on calling the PMOI by its official name, Mojahedin, rather than by the term used by the Iranian authorities, Monafeghin (hypocrites), according to a 2014 urgent action appeal by Amnesty International.
