Activist teacher Esmail Abdi, labor activist Jafar Azimzadeh, lawyer Amir Salar Davoudi, Majid Azarpay, Fereydoun Ahmadi and Saeed Sharifi are among the 12 infected inmates in Ward 8 of Evin Prison.
Some of the political prisoners have underlying health issues and are at risk of death from Covid 19. Esmail Abdi suffers from Asthma and Jafar Azimzadeh suffers from kidney, heart and blood circulation complications.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly warned about the outbreak of the virus inside Iran prisons, calling for the release of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
Amnesty International on July 31 revealed four official letters by senior officials responsible for managing Iran’s prisons to the Ministry of Health.
The letters raised the alarm over serious shortages of protective equipment, disinfectant products, and essential medical devices, and seek urgent funding and assistance. The letters show that as of early July 2020, the Ministry of Health had failed to respond.
Iranian authorities have deliberately denied medical treatment to prisoners of conscience and other political prisoners, putting their life and health at grave risk. In some cases, they deny medical care to inmates to punish them or to force them into making false confessions against their will.