Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, lawyer for Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, a prisoner suffering from kidney cancer, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that prison authorities are responsible for the dire physical condition of Maleki. “According to the law, if authorities who control the prison do not take action to protect his health and remain indifferent they can be prosecuted in criminal court. They have to be accountable,” Dadkhah told the Campaign.

“Eventually, this prisoner’s situation will have to be sorted out by prison management. We hope they would soon take steps toward helping to improve his health, otherwise they are legally responsible,” said Dadkhah, noting that he has not been able to visit his client in prison for a long time.

“As Hossein Ronaghi himself has said from inside prison, and his family have confirmed, he is in dire need of medical attention outside the prison, and the prison infirmary is not equipped to treat him,” added Dadkhah.

Last week, upon Ronaghi’s medical examination, doctors stated that he needs to undergo surgery immediately. The doctors said that if medical treatment is offered to him quickly there would be no need for his kidney to be removed and the organ may be revitalized. More than one week later, Ministry of Intelligence forces have disregarded the prognosis and refused to grant him medical leave.

Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was arrested in December 2009.  He spent one year in solitary confinement at Evin Prison. Last October, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Courts and the ruling was upheld by an appeals court. Currently he is in Ward 350 of Evin prison in deteriorating physical condition.