Pregnant political prisoner on hunger strike to protest uncertain status
Political prisoner Saada Khedirzadeh has been on a hunger strike since April 26, to protest seven months of temporary detention under uncertain status in the Central Prison of Urmia.
In an audio file, she said she had been threatened and forced to make confessions.
The 32-year-old said she had been “held hostage” on trumped-up charges and that security agents had made “unethical proposals” to her during the first days of interrogation at the intelligence detention center.
She said: “This is Saada Khadirzadeh. I have been detained in the women’s ward of Urmia Prison. Seven months after being detained, my physical condition and health are very dire. I am eight months pregnant.”
“Although the necessary medical records have been attached to my file, no action has been taken to secure my release. The people who are my plaintiffs have prevented my freedom, but I am innocent. I am paying the price instead of someone else, and I am held as a hostage,” she added.
“From the first days of my imprisonment at the detention center of the Intelligence Department, I have been subjected to severe psychological torture. I experienced a lot of disrespect and insults. The security forces even made unethical proposals to me,” Saada Khedirzadeh continued.
Political prisoner Saada Khadirzadeh comes from Piranshahr, in West Azerbaijan Province. She is married with two children and was one-month pregnant when she was arrested on October 14, 2021.
It is so far not known why and on what charges she was arrested.
On November 8, 2021, she was transferred from the IRGC detention center to the Central Prison of Urmia. She has been deprived of family visits or having access to a lawyer throughout her detention.
Saada Khadirzadeh is in a critical physical condition and suffers from a lumbar disc. She also has a heart problem; nonetheless, the investigator and the prison’s authorities have rejected her request for conditional release even on bail.
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