Evin political prisoner Kazem Alinezhad Baranlou on dry hunger strike

Kazem Alinezhad Baranlou, a political prisoner held in Tehran's Evin prison, has gone on a dry hunger strike in protest at being denied medical care and essential medication. News of the strike was published on Saturday, 17 October 2026. In a dry hunger strike the prisoner neither eats nor drinks water, and it threatens his life within a short time.

According to a source familiar with his situation, the political prisoner suffers from heart and kidney disease, yet prison officials have refused to supply the medication he needs or to transfer him to medical facilities outside the prison. Sores that have developed on his legs have taken away his ability to walk and carry out daily tasks, and his physical condition is described as alarming. Alinezhad Baranlou has said he will continue the strike until his medical demands are addressed.

Kazem Alinezhad Baranlou's prison sentence

Tehran's Revolutionary Court sentenced Kazem Alinezhad Baranlou to 11 years in prison in December 2023–January 2024. The appeals court reduced the sentence to five years in prison in April–May 2024. The charges against him have not been made clear in published reports.

Denial of treatment: a tool of pressure on political prisoners

The prisoner's strike comes as denial of treatment has become one of the standard methods of pressuring political prisoners in the Islamic Republic. On the same day, DIAR reported on the case of Masoumeh Nassaji, a 64-year-old sick political prisoner in Evin's women's ward, who is still being held in prison even though the Forensic Medicine Organization has confirmed she cannot endure imprisonment.

A few days earlier, Behzad Rezvanmehr, a political prisoner in Karaj Central Prison, died of a widespread infection in the ward after months of solitary confinement and denial of treatment. Reports of the spread of a respiratory disease in Evin prison's women's ward also show that sanitary conditions in this prison are deteriorating.

A dry hunger strike is the last resort political prisoners choose to make their voices heard. Responsibility for the health and life of Kazem Alinezhad Baranlou lies with the Islamic Republic's Prisons Organization and judiciary, which have denied him treatment despite his serious illnesses.

Suffering from heart and kidney disease and without medication, Kazem Alinezhad Baranlou is neither eating nor drinking in Evin prison.