An Iranian political activist, detained in Qom Prison, died in his cell on Wednesday after a 60-day hunger strike.
Vahid Sayadi Nasiri was jailed in 2015 and sentenced to eight years after he was accused of insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and spreading “propaganda against the state” on his Facebook account, according to the advocacy group Iran Human Rights Monitor.
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During his initial detention at Raja’i Shahr and Evin prisons, Iran Human Rights Monitor alleges that Sayadi Nasiri had been harassed by operatives linked to the Iranian regime.
The group say he was attacked in May 2017 by a fellow prisoner, and again in February, this time by two offenders.
Sayadi Nasiri was released in March having served two-and-a-half years of his sentence, but detained again in August 2018.
According to Elaheh Sayadi Nasiri, his sister, Sayadi Nasiri had also requested that he be transferred to Evin Prison, on the outskirts of Tehran. »