DUBAI: An imprisoned Iranian human rights activist ended a 71-day hunger strike Tuesday as his detained wife won a temporary release from prison, a day after his case sparked a rare unauthorized protest in Tehran.
Arash Sadeghi was to be taken to a hospital, his lawyer Amir Raisian said, while Amnesty International said he would be fed intravenously. His wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, was temporarily freed for several days in a decision that can be extended, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
The sudden decision comes after a dayslong social media campaign and the march Monday toward Evin prison by dozens of Iranians. Such protests have been rare in Iran after violence that followed the country’s disputed 2009 presidential election. Reformist lawmaker Bahram Parsai said earlier that he and other legislators met with court officials to discuss Sadeghi’s case, signaling the growing concern officials had over the campaign.
“It was supposed to solve the case resorting to prudence, in a way that would not be misused by enemies,” Parsai said, according to the semi-official ILNA news agency. “We do not want such cases to turn into a problem for the system,” he said, apparently referring to Western criticism of Iran’s rights record.
Sadeghi is serving a 15-year sentence over charges including “spreading propaganda against the system” and “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic,” according to Amnesty.
Arash Sadeghi was to be taken to a hospital, his lawyer Amir Raisian said, while Amnesty International said he would be fed intravenously. His wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, was temporarily freed for several days in a decision that can be extended, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
The sudden decision comes after a dayslong social media campaign and the march Monday toward Evin prison by dozens of Iranians. Such protests have been rare in Iran after violence that followed the country’s disputed 2009 presidential election. Reformist lawmaker Bahram Parsai said earlier that he and other legislators met with court officials to discuss Sadeghi’s case, signaling the growing concern officials had over the campaign.
“It was supposed to solve the case resorting to prudence, in a way that would not be misused by enemies,” Parsai said, according to the semi-official ILNA news agency. “We do not want such cases to turn into a problem for the system,” he said, apparently referring to Western criticism of Iran’s rights record.
Sadeghi is serving a 15-year sentence over charges including “spreading propaganda against the system” and “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic,” according to Amnesty.
