Dutch-Iranian national Sabri Hassanpour, who has been detained in Tehran’s Evin prison since his arrest on 19 April 2016, is being denied urgently needed open heart surgery by the Iranian authorities. He had a heart attack in prison in November 2016.
Sabri Hassanpour, a 60-year-old Dutch-Iranian national who has been detained for over a year in Evin prison, is in dire health. He suffered a heart attack on 15 November 2016 in Evin prison and was taken to a hospital outside prison where a cardiologist told him that he urgently needed open heart surgery. He has a pre-existing heart condition for which he has previously undergone several coronary angioplasties to unblock arteries around his heart. He currently has constant pain in his chest and around his heart. His cell mates have taken him to the prison clinic numerous times but the doctors there simply treat him with intravenous (IV) fluids and send him back to his cell. He has also been frequently collapsing in prison after losing consciousness. The authorities have told him that he must pay for his open heart surgery, which he has explained he cannot afford. This is in breach of international law, which requires that states provide medical care for all prisoners, free of charge and without discrimination.
