An informed source has told Iran International that the Evin Prison’s medical staff has refused to send incarcerated Dervish Behnam Mahjoubi urgently to the hospital and endangered his life.

Behnam had two panic attacks in a short period of time, but the medical staff refused to treat him and sent him back to his ward,” the source told Iran International.

According to the source, when Mahjoubi’s cellmates took him to the medical ward after the third attack, one of the prisoners became angry with the staff and harmed himself, and his protest along with other prisoners forced the medical staff to transfer Mahjoubi to a hospital after he had repeatedly vomited and lost his power of speech and was bleeding from the ear.”

The source says Evin Prison’s medical staff say the reason for his transfer to the hospital was medicine poisoning, but he was receiving his drugs from the prison staff and consumed it in front of them and now they claim he has used too much medicine. The source says the medical staff kept giving Mahjoubi sleeping pills and claims that they caused his poisoning on purpose.

He believes prison plans to kill prisoners who are “too problematic”, and said during one of the times that Behnam was sent to a mental hospital instead of a hospital, one of the patients slapped Behnam so hard that his ears bled. “But it seems the prison officials and medical staff enjoy watching the suffering of prisoners, and they did nothing to treat him,” the source said.

Another source close to Mahjoubi says while trying to clean his stomach, the doctors at the hospital made a mistake and some of the content of his stomach ended up in his lungs and therefore his lungs stopped working. Mahjoubi is currently in a coma and kept alive with the machines, and the doctors say only a miracle could get him out of the coma.

Behnam Mahjoubi’s mother released a video announcing that Loghman hospital called her and said her son’s vital signs are very weak, but they will not allow her to see her son. She said she has been to Loghman Hospital since Monday morning, but no matter how much she cried they did not let her visit her son.

“They say his vital signs are down, but the agents won’t let me see my child. I don’t know why they don’t let me see my child.” She said in the video. “I’m a mother and I want to see my child.”

One of Behnam’s friends who has talked to the doctor tweeted that the doctor said the hospital has done all it could, and only a miracle would bring Behnam out of the coma. Despite his condition, they still would not allow anyone to see him.

A number of former prisoners and activists have gathered in front of Loghman hospital since Monday night in support of the family.