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Jailed Iranian Blogger: Coronavirus-infected Prisoners Not Hospitalized Until
Near Death

Michael Lipin

   WASHINGTON - A jailed Iranian blogger is intensifying his campaign to
   raise international awareness about worsening conditions at the
   notorious prison where he is detained, saying in a new audio recording
   that coronavirus-infected inmates are not being sent to hospitals until
   near death.

   In the audio message recorded this month and sent to VOA Persian by a
   source, citizen journalist Soheil Arabi spoke from inside Greater
   Tehran Penitentiary, where he has been serving a sentence for posting
   online comments deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad.

   Arabi previously said he had staged multiple hunger strikes this year,
   despite declining health, to demand a temporary release from the
   coronavirus-infested prison and better living conditions for all
   inmates. In a letter that he shared with rights activists who posted it
   online in May, Arabi said he would end the hunger strikes at the urging
   of his family and friends and focus instead on fighting what he called
   "oppression, corruption and injustice" at the prison.

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