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.