Iran confirms death of detained blogger after two-month hunger strike

Western rights groups said Vahid Sayyadi Nasiri died after a 60-day hunger strike.
2 min read
16 December, 2018
RSF criticising it aRSF describes Iran as "one of the most oppressive countries" [Getty]

An Iranian blogger and activist jailed on security charges has died, authorities have acknowledged, two months after he went on hunger strike.

The semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Sunday Vahid Sayyadi Nasiri died in hospital on 12 December from a liver disease.

Western rights groups had said the social media activist died following a 60-day hunger strike. 

"The political prisoner Vahid Sayyadi Nasiri, on hunger strike since October 13, 2018 to protest the denial of his right to counsel and inhumane prison conditions..., has died at the Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Qom," the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said on its website.

Quoting an unidentified source, ISNA said Nasiri had been jailed twice for belonging to a royalist group and allegedly planning acts of sabotage including an explosion.

Mehdi Kaheh, the prosecutor in the city of Qom, also did not refer to a hunger strike, earlier saying Nasiri had been serving a sentence for "insulting Islamic sanctities" on social media when he fell ill.

Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders last month said Iran launched a fresh crackdown on journalists in which several had been questioned and three detained over social media posts.

Tehran has for years come under fire by rights groups for executions, including minors, and a whole host of violations. It also routinely arrests journalists and dissidents, with RSF criticising it as "one of the most oppressive countries" for media organisations.