Ehsan Mazandarani Released for Medical Treatment

Imprisoned journalist Ehsan Mazandarani has been released from prison temporarily and sent to a hospital for medical treatment.

Mazandarani’s lawyer, Hooshang Pourbabaei, told the news agency ISNA that Mazandarani was suffering from the consequences of his hunger strike.

Mazandarani, who was the managing editor of the newspaper Farhikhtegan, was arrested along with three other journalists in November 2015. Iranian intelligence agents accused them being part of an “infiltration network” conspiring with “hostile” Western governments.

In April 2016, the journalists faced trial at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court under Judge Mohammad Moghiseh. Human rights organizations and the European Union have accused Moghiseh of violating defendants’ human rights.

He found all four journalists guilty of “conspiracy against national security.” Mazandarani was given a seven-year prison sentence, but the Revolutionary Court of Appeals reduced his sentence to two years.

Mazandarani went on a hunger strike earlier this year. On June 20, he suffered a heart attack. On Sunday, October 9, his wife Maliheh Hosseini told the ILNA news agency that her husband had been granted a medical leave and had been transferred from Evin Prison to a hospital.

Pourbabaei pointed out that his client has already served nearly half of his sentence, and he is hoping that, based on Article 58 of the Islamic Republic Penal Code, Mazandarani can be granted a pardon so that he can attend to his treatment.

“On Sunday morning, I went to the court to inquire about the condition of my husband,” said Maliheh Hosseini. “I learned that Evin’s doctor had called the court to express his concern about Ehsan’s condition and had said that he could not do anything for him. We were told to go to Evin ourselves and take my husband to the hospital. It seems that today Ehsan has had an intestinal hemorrhage and his blood sugar is down sharply.”