ABC blog

According to a report obtained by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, imprisoned political activist Arash Sadeqi has yet to receive proper medical attention following his delayed transfer to a hospital granted by Raja’i Shahr prison authorities.

Sadeqi, who suffers from cancer of the cartilage, had been transferred back to Raja’i Shahr three days following major surgery for a tumor in his arm. He now suffers from a high fever and an infected wound. He was scheduled for a hospital appointment at noon on Saturday, September 22; his late arrival, coordinated by authorities, prevented him from being attended to by specialist doctors. Sadeqi therefore had to meet with a general physician, who said that Sadeqi should have been kept in the hospital at least 25 days after surgery, as doctors had originally ordered. The general physician also stated that a severe infection around the area doctors operated on is attributable to unhygienic conditions and lack of medical attention at Raja’i Shahr.

Besides the Cephalexin antibiotics Sadeqi has taken since surgery, doctors have reportedly prescribed 12 ampules of a strong antibiotic, two of which are to be given to Sadeqi in injection form daily.

The dressing on Sadeqi’s wounds must be changed once daily. Owing to a lack of sterile gauze and bandages in the Raja’i Shahr clinic, Sadeqi has been forced to use bandages already in his possession.

In the four days he spent in hospital, Sadeqi was shackled to his bed in metal hand- and ankle-cuffs. When medical personnel protested such treatment, agents accompanying Sadeqi said that the restraints had been ordered by a Mr. Rostami, prosecutor for political prisoners; Gholam Reza Ziya’i, Raja’i Shahr warden; and Maqsud Zolf’ali, head of Raja’i Shahr’s prison unit. On September 15, just three days after major surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his arm, Sadeqi was transferred back to Raja’i Shahr prison. Doctors also took samples from Sadeqi’s breast bone and underarm where the cancer was suspected to have metastasized; results from these samples are forthcoming.