Reporters Without Borders issued a statement today holding Islamic Republic authorities responsible for the death of Reza Hoda Saber, the Iranian journalist who died from cardiac complications following a nine-day hunger strike in Evin Prison.
While expressing sympathy for Hoda Saber’s death, Reporters Without Borders maintains that Iranian authorities are responsible for two reasons: first, because they arbitrarily arrested him, and second, because they failed to provide him with timely and adequate medical care.
Hoda Saber was stricken by heart complications on Friday and, after enduring hours of pain, he was finally transferred from Evin Prison to Modarres Hospital, where he died on June 12.
Reporters Without Borders says it supports any legal action taken by Hoda Saber’s family regarding his death, adding that the truth must be revealed about the “continuous murder of journalists and political prisoners.”
The group adds that, in view of Hoda Saber’s critical condition following his nine-day hunger strike, prison officials were negligent in delaying his transfer to hospital.
Hoda Saber, who was editor of the banned magazine Iran Farda, had been held in Evin Prison since August 2, 2009. His hunger strike was in protest of what he called the “murder of Haleh Sahabi” at the recent funeral of her father. Medical reports have pointed to the effects of his hunger strike as a cause of death.
Prior to his latest arrest, Hoda Saber had been detained and sentenced to jail time several times for being a Nationalist-Religious activist.
He will be laid to rest on Monday at 8:30 AM at Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery.
