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HRW Criticizes Conditions For Jailed Iranian Journalists


Emadeddin Baghi is one of the detained Iranian journalists whose lives are at risk, HRW says.
Emadeddin Baghi is one of the detained Iranian journalists whose lives are at risk, HRW says.
The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has criticized the conditions in which jailed Iranian journalists are being held, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports.

RSF issued a statement on April 1 that declared Iranian officials responsible for the lives of journalists in custody who are sick and asked prison authorities to release them unconditionally.

Reza Moini, RSF's Iran section spokesman, told Radio Farda that according to the families of some arrested writers, the journalists "face difficult conditions in prison."

RSF asserts that some of the detained journalists' lives are at risk. Moini said that "clearly a detainee who has difficulty breathing and is repeatedly fainting [while in prison] does not have good health" and may be at risk to his or her life.

The RSF statement named those journalists whose health is poor and puts them at risk, including Mohammad-Sadigh Kabudvand, Said Matinpur, and Emadeddin Baghi.

Concerning the difficult situation facing Kabudvand, who has been jailed in Tehran's Evin prison since 2008, Moini said Kabudvand "has dealt with heart problems and [even] had a minor heart attack."

Kabudvand "also has lung, prostate, and liver problems and should be under medical supervision," Moini said. "But he is not allowed to leave on a temporary release and doesn't have permission to have a check-up with a doctor."

Another journalist whose case was highlighted by RSF is Matinpur, who is serving an eight-year prison sentence. According to Matinpur's family he is extremely sick and has serious heart and stomach problems.

Moini also noted the situation of Baghi, who has suffered several heart attacks in prison.
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