Ailing civil rights activist Nahid Gorji, who is serving a three-year prison sentence in Iran for criticizing the government on social media, is being deprived of adequate medical care in prison.

Gorji, 50, suffers from diabetes and heart disease, but prison authorities have denied her proper medical care, an unnamed source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

“She is sick and needs medical leave,” the source said and added that Gorji has a young daughter who is living with relatives.

“Nahid used to take pills for her diabetes and heart disease before she went to prison,” the sources said. “But now they won’t even allow her family to bring her pills to prison. She also suffers from leg pain and her bones are losing mass. Vakilabad Prison does not have the proper facilities to treat her and she’s not being transferred to the hospital.”

Gorji was arrested by security forces on October 11, 2014 at her home in Mashhad. After taking her away, they confiscated some of her personal belongings, including her laptop, cell phone and camera.

Two months after her arrest, several European MPs campaigned for her release, eventually leading to the court approving a bail of $143,000. But Gorji was forced to remain in detention because she could not afford it.

In October 2015, at the anniversary of her arrest, she was eventually released on bail due to severe depression and her poor psychological state, according to Human Rights Activists News Agency.

The Court of Appeal of Razavi Khorasan Province sentenced her to three years in prison in March 2016, and on April 8 she started serving her sentence at Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad

According to relatives her arrest and conviction stem from her activities on social media. 

Read more about Nahid Gorji on her profile.