Father of Imprisoned Blogger Pleads for His Ill Son’s Release

Dozens Remain Behind Bars Since Disputed 2009 Election.The father of blogger Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, who, prior to a six-month medical furlough granted for severe illness had been imprisoned since 2009 for his peaceful activities following the disputed 2009 presidential election in Iran, is appealing for an end to his son’s incarceration after the blogger was returned to prison.

“My son has been found unfit to serve his sentence by the state Medical Examiner because he has multiple medical problems. Therefore he should not return to prison. But I don’t know why the authorities have again summoned him to prison,” Ahmad Ronaghi Maleki told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Dozens of prisoners remain held in Iranian prisons since the state crackdown that followed the peaceful protests over that election, six years after the events.

Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, 29, was arrested in Malekan, East Azerbaijan Province, on December 13, 2009, for his activities in connection with the peaceful protests that followed the 2009 election and sentenced to 15 years in prison by Judge Pirabbasi for “acting against national security” and “supporting and receiving money from foreign organizations.”

Imprisoned at Evin, Maleki suffered numerous kidney and stomach illnesses for which he was transferred to the hospital several times. He was given a six-month medical furlough on September 4, 2014, and then summoned earlier this month to return to prison.

The denial of medical care is a routine practice in the Iranian prison system, especially in the case of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.

Maleki’s father told the Campaign his son was falsely accused of trying to escape the country while he was on furlough.

“I myself brought my son to show them he was not running away,” he said. “When the Medical Examiner issues an order three times to end an incarceration, why are they still bothering and tormenting us?”

Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, currently held at Ward 7 of Evin Prison, “is not allowed out for fresh air or to go to the library like other inmates in the section,” his father told the Campaign. “They have threatened him that if his family makes noise about his case he will be transferred to Rajaee Shahr Prison [in Karaj].”