Condition worsens of hunger-striking Iran dissident: Brother

The health condition has “worsened” of a prominent Iranian dissident who was arrested in September and who is now on hunger strike, his brother said on Sunday. Hossein Ronaghi, an outspoken freedom of speech campaigner, has been transferred to a medical facility within Tehran's Evin prison, his brother Hassan wrote on Twitter. Ronaghi has been held at Evin since his arrest on September 24. His family says he risks dying due to a kidney condition and that both his legs have been broken in prison. “Hossein's condition worsened and he was transferred to Evin prison clinic,” Hassan Ronaghi wrote on Twitter on Sunday. He accused prosecutors of blocking his release “under false pretences” and of instead seeking “to kill Hossein”. — afp