A jailed ethnic Azeri journalist and human rights activist is in critical condition in Tehran's Evin prison, his wife has told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.
Saeed Matinpour's wife, Atieh Taheri, told Radio Farda on March 8 that he has been suffering from severe heart problems since shortly after his detention in December 2009, but has been denied medical treatment.
Matinpour was sentenced by the 15th branch of Tehran's Revolutionary Court to seven years' imprisonment on a charge of "having connections with foreigners" and one year for "spreading propaganda against the regime."
Taheri said despite her repeated requests and the letters which the prison physician wrote to the judge and prosecutor, Matinpour has not been allowed to leave prison for medical treatment.
Matinpour was first taken into custody in May 2007 in the northwestern city of Zanjan. He was released after 278 days in detention after posting a large bail bond.
His wife said her protests to the authorities have had no result. "First, I objected to Saeed's temporary detention, which lasted nine months, then to his two-minute trial, which ended with an eight-year prison sentence, and now to his being denied the right to prison leave," Taheri said.