Kouhyar Goudarzi spent 17 days on hunger strike in solitary confinement at Evin prison.

Kouhyar Goudarzi who was detained on July 31st is behind bars in solitary confinement in ward 209 of Evin prison.
Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHHR) has reported that when Kouhyar Goudarzi was apprehended he was taken to ward 240 which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence. He was later transferred to solitry confinement in ward 209.

Kouhyar Goudarzi went on hunger strike while behind bars in protest of the intense pressures put upon him along with the illegal detainment of his mother. Goudarzi continued his hunger strike for 17 days after which he had to stop due to the dangerous deterioration of his health.

More than 65 days have passed since the arrest of this CHHR member. However there has been no contact with his family or friends, who have expressed their deep concern as every day passes by with no official information. According to obtained reports, Goudarzi has resisted the physical and psychological pressures inflicted upon him and he is in good spirits despite his dire situation and being held in solitary confinement for this long period of time.

In the past days following the suicides of two of Kouhyar Goudarzi’s friends, human rights activists created the “green protest” campaign sharing their deep worry for the missing activist. The campaign has announced gatherings in cities around the world in protest of the lack of information and the illegal treatment of Goudarzi.

Goudarzi’s mother, Parvin Mokhtareh, who was arrested one day after her son, is awaiting her sentencing behind bars in prison in the city of Kerman. She has also spent this time without receiving any information about the whereabouts or condition of her son.

This is not the first time the courts have arrested a mother for verbally defending her child in Iran. But it has been unprecedented in the past years to press charges, conduct a trial, and hand down a verdict to a mother for the crime of speaking of the plight of her son.

Parvin Mokhtareh is being held among dangerous criminals in the public ward of Kerman’s prison for more than 2 months. She has been deprived of her right to a lawyer and threatened by the judge with a one-year prison sentence.

Article in Persian: http://www.rahana.org/archives/44962