More than 350 human rights and political activists have issued a statement urging the Iranian authorities to release Mehdi Khazali.

The announcement expressed grave concern for the health of the political prisoner, who has gone on hunger strikes on several occasions, saying: “His life is under immediate and serious threat after three months of hunger strike and incarceration in the stuffy and closed atmosphere of solitary cells.”

The activists claim the Islamic Republic judiciary has issued the order to release Mehdi Khazali on bail and his family has prepared the bail, but the Ministry of Intelligence has refused to allow his release.

The group calls for Khazali’s immediate and unconditional release, warning that he could become part of the “suspicious and silent deaths in Islamic Republic prisons” that have happened of late.

Khazali was arrested for the sixth time last November at a gathering of writers, and while all the detainees from that meeting have been released, he still remains behind bars.

Source: Radio Zamaneh