Kazem Alinejad Baranlou refuses to sign a "repentance letter"; his phone call is cut off

Evin prison security officials have asked Kazem Alinejad Baranlou, a political prisoner on hunger strike since Friday, 16 October 2026, to sign a paper titled a "repentance letter". According to an informed source whose account was published by the human rights organisation HRANA, Alinejad refused to sign, and his right to make phone calls was cut off afterwards. This report follows DIAR's earlier report on the deterioration of his condition.

The same source said Alinejad has sewn his lips shut in protest at this pressure, a claim that no other independent source has confirmed so far. According to the source, signing a "repentance letter" has become a common condition for political prisoners to enjoy their legal rights, such as parole and medical leave.

Kazem Alinejad's demands on hunger strike

Alinejad began his hunger strike in protest at being denied medical care, having no access to the medication he needs, and the prison authorities' disregard for his physical condition. He suffers from heart, lung and kidney disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. According to HRANA, he has been deprived of some of his medication, his insulin use has increased as his blood sugar has risen, and his repeated requests to be sent to medical facilities outside the prison have gone unanswered. By the fifth day of the strike, none of his demands had been addressed.

Background of the case

Security forces arrested Kazem Alinejad Baranlou on 20 November 2023 in Eslamshahr, and about a month later he was transferred to Ward 4 of Evin prison. In January 2024, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced him, in a joint case with 10 other political defendants, to a total of 11 years in prison, a two-year ban on residing in Tehran and neighbouring provinces, and a ban on membership in political and social groups. In May 2024, Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeal reduced his sentence to five years in prison on a charge of "assembly and collusion against national security" and acquitted him of the charges of "insulting the sacred" and "propaganda against the system".

The Islamic Republic has tied the treatment of a sick political prisoner to his signing of a "repentance letter".