A prominent dissident jailed in Iran attempted suicide in prison to protest the situation of political prisoners and possibly the harassment of his family by security and intelligence organs.
Mohammad Nourizad signed a petition along with fourteen other dissidents in June 2019 demanding the resignation of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. They were all arrested and eight individuals were tried in a court without due process of law.They were sentenced to a total of 72 years in prison by a court in Iran’s second-largest city, Mashhad in February.
Nourizad who is a documentary film maker reportedly cut his wrist in prison but was rescued. His wife, Fatemeh Maleki told Radio Farda on May 2 that her husband’s lawyer visited him in prison and saw bandages on his hand and face.
He told the lawyer that his decision to commit suicide was not about himself but “for the sake of all political prisoners…to highlight the oppression they endure and pressures they are subjected to”.
Earlier, Nourizad had talked about his intention to commit suicide in prison, but he had mentioned the pressures his family is subjected to.
The Islamic Republic sentenced his son recently to three and a half years prison on trumped-up charges. Nourizad himself was arrested several times before and had gone on hunger strike.
