February 7, 2012
Honourable senators, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, blogger, human rights activist and an advocate against cyber censorship, was arrested and transferred to Evin Prison in 2009. In 2010, the Iranian judiciary sentenced Mr. Maleki to 15 years in prison, but his only crime is peacefully defending human rights.
Unsanitary and inhumane prison conditions and multiple protest hunger strikes have cost Mr. Maleki one kidney, and he just received his fourth operation on the other. Given this dangerous kidney condition, Mr. Maleki’s health is at serious risk.
Mr. Maleki has endured many months in solitary confinement and has been subjected to serious physical and psychological pressure. Mr. Maleki is among Iran’s intellectuals. He should be treated as an outstanding individual rather than locked up and tortured.
As a member of the Senate of Canada, I condemn every abuse of human rights and call for the immediate release of unlawfully held prisoner Hossein Ronaghi Maleki.