Prominent Iranian charity leader fights worsening health in detention
Held in solitary without a formal charge for nearly 100 days, Sharmin Meymandi-Nejad, the founder of a reputable Iranian charity, is facing deteriorating health as interrogators protract his indefinite detention.
Members of Iran’s civil society have raised serious concerns about the prolonged detention and worsening health condition of Sharmin Meymandi-Nejad, a prominent activist, outspoken government critic and founder of one of the country’s most popular private charity organizations.
Meymandi-Nejad has been in the custody of the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since June 22. During that time, the 50-year-old philanthropist has been kept in solitary confinement, deprived of visits and access to his lawyer.
The detainee’s wife, Zahra Rahimi, said earlier this month on Twitter that in a brief call from jail, Meymandi-Nejad had complained about his deteriorating health, saying he badly needed a walker to be able to stand up. Meymandi-Nejad has also urged “forgiveness,” a typical request that Iranians make to family members and relatives at moments of looming death.
And in an interview with Shargh, a pro-Reform daily, Rahimi said interrogators have been denying her husband the much-needed medicines he regularly takes for a heart problem as well as his “ankylosing spondylitis,” a rare but acute type of spinal cord arthritis.
