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August 24, 2010

Tehran's Evin prison

The families of 16 of the 17 Iranian political prisoners who began a hunger strike last month have finally managed to meet with them, RFE/RL’s Radio Farda reports.

The prisoners began a hunger strike in late July to protest conditions in Tehran’s Evin prison, where they are incarcerated. One of them is student activist Ziya Nabavi, whose father Ali Akbar Nabavi told RFE/RL that he met with his son on August 23. He said his son was in good physical shape, but the conditions in which he was being kept have not improved.

Nabavi told RFE/RL that his son was in good spirits and did not have any physical problems. But, he said, his son had no access to a telephone in order to contact anyone on the outside.

“Nothing has changed about the horrible condition of the prison, and my son could not talk to me freely,” he said.

Nabavi said the families of 16 of the hunger strikers were permitted to meet them.

The only exception was Majid Tavakoli, a prominent student activist jailed after the disputed June 2009 election, who was transferred to the nearby Rajaeeshahr prison, known to house many political prisoners, last week.