Another Kurdish political prisoner, Mojgan Kavousi, went on a 10-day hunger strike
Kurdish political prisoner Sakineh Parvaneh’s hunger strike
Kurdish political prisoner Sakineh Parvaneh has been on a hunger strike since May 22, 2021, as part of her protest against being denied medical treatment in Mashhad Vakilabad Prison. She is also continuing her strike to protest her continued deportation to Mashhad Central Prison (Vakilabad).
According to informed sources from inside the prison, Ms. Sakineh Parvaneh was transferred to the clinic at Vakilabad Prison a few days ago due to her low blood pressure and digestive issues. However, the prison’s Intelligence Department refused to move her to the hospital despite the physicians’ medical advice.
This Kurdish political prisoner has gone on hunger strikes several times while in prison. Sakineh Parvaneh’s first hunger strike was on May 25, 2020, in protest against her 5-year prison sentence in Qarchak Prison. She began another hunger strike on June 18, 2020. She has been beaten several times during her prison term. She ended her hunger strike after being transferred from Qarchak prison in Varamin to the quarantine ward of Evin Prison on July 4, 2020, while her body was still swollen and bruised. On October 27, 2020, she was relocated from the women’s ward at Evin to Quchan Prison. Three days later, she went on another hunger strike for 20 days; on the 8th day, she closed her lips in protest against the probability of being banished to Isfahan Prison. However, despite her condition, she was brutalized and beaten by guards. On November 9, 2020, Quchan Prison officials ordered that she be moved into solitary confinement. Sakineh Parvaneh was transferred from Quchan Prison to the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office of Mashhad the night of December 13, 2020; in the morning of December 14, she was moved into the quarantine of Mashhad Central Prison (Vakilabad).
Kurdish writer and researcher Mojgan Kavousi
Kurdish writer and researcher Mojgan Kavousi had been on a hunger strike for 10 days (since May 16, 2021) in Evin Prison. She went on strike to protest the authorities’ violation of imprisonment laws and regulations, the execution of prison sentences, and prison officials’ discriminatory treatment regarding prison leaves during the Coronavirus outbreak. By the ninth day of her strike, she had lost significant weight, and her blood pressure had dropped. She ended her hunger strike on May 25, 2021.
During the past year, Mojgan Kavousi was not allowed even a single day of prison leave. Her family must travel a great distance, from another city, to visit her. The Kavousi family is denied face-to-face visits and can only meet with Mojgan through a glass pane.
Mojgan Kavousi has been serving her time in the women’s ward of Evin Prison since May 19, 2020.
She suffers from several ailments, including digestive problems, diabetes, and cardiac arrhythmias. Previously, on September 1, 2020, she had been on another hunger strike. She is currently in critical condition due to her worsening heart disease after 10 days of her hunger strike.
Mojgan Kavousi, a writer and cultural activist, was arrested during the nationwide uprising in November 2019 for her Instagram posts. Her sentence was increased to 6 years and 4 months by the appeals court.
