A jailed environmental activist is being denied access to urgent medical treatment despite suffering from severe stomach bleeding at Iran's Tabriz Prison, according to reports from human rights groups.
Karim Esmailzadeh, who was sentenced to six months in prison for his environmental activism, has been experiencing stomach bleeding for over a month.
His family attempted to get necessary medications delivered to the prison authorities, but they prevented the medicines from reaching him, sources told the Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran.
"After Esmailzadeh requested access to medical facilities and underlined the authorities' lack of attention, his illness worsened and he suffered severe stomach bleeding," the human rights group said.
While Esmailzadeh's family wants to transfer him to an outside specialist, prison officials have continued denying the ailing activist access to proper medical care in an apparent effort to increase pressure on him.
The 38-year-old environmentalist founded a campaign to protect Lake Urmia and the Aras River from environmental degradation and pollution.
He frequently published protest videos criticizing government policies that led to the drying up of Lake Urmia and the dumping of industrial waste into the Aras River from Armenia.
Interested in writing for IranWire?
Share your stories.
comments