Death of ‘Samiyeh Rashidi,’ Exposing Organized Crime in Islamic Republic Prisons

The warning by political prisoners regarding the death of ‘Samiyeh Rashidi’ has unveiled an organized crime that is part of the systematic suppression by the Islamic Republic.

The death of Samiyeh Rashidi, a political prisoner held in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, has sparked waves of anger and protest among political prisoners and civil activists. While the judiciary has circulated its own narrative about her death “due to illness,” political prisoners and independent sources say she became a victim of deliberate deprivation of treatment and intentional negligence by officials.

In a statement signed by 45 female political prisoners in Qarchak, the official narratives of the Islamic Republic regarding the cause of Rashidi’s death have been described as “distorted.” These women emphasized that Rashidi had suffered from epilepsy since her arrival at the prison and had experienced severe seizures multiple times, but each time instead of being hospitalized, she was only returned to her cell. The statement noted that Rashidi was “full of desire for life and freedom,” and the lives of other prisoners in similar conditions are also in serious danger.

Meanwhile, political prisoners in Evin Prison have also called Rashidi’s death “organized crime” in a separate statement, and through sit-in and civil disobedience within the prison compound, they displayed their protest. With slogans against the system and judiciary, they considered Rashidi a “symbol of resistance and victimhood” and declared: “We pledge to keep the memory of her and other victims of this oppressive system alive. This voice will not be silenced.”

The Islamic Republic’s judiciary confirmed Rashidi’s death on Thursday, the 3rd of Mehr, but claimed that after receiving initial medical treatment at the prison clinic, she had been transferred to a hospital for further treatment. This claim is in complete contradiction with the testimony of prisoners and Rashidi’s relatives. According to an informed source, the prison doctor repeatedly told her that she was malingering and instead of transferring her to a hospital, only prescribed nerve medications.

Female political prisoners in Qarchak have clearly emphasized that Rashidi was neither an addict nor mentally ill, but rather suffered from documented epilepsy. They also recalled that judicial and security officials were aware of her serious health condition, but over the past five months took no action for her conditional release or payment of her three billion toman bail.

The statement signatories warned: “Other Samiyehs continue to be with us and in other prisons of the Islamic Republic, and their health is in danger.” They referred to the deaths of two other prisoners in Qarchak last week and called for the release of prisoners over 60 years old and sick prisoners.

Furthermore, human rights organizations, including Iran Human Rights Organization, Hrana news agency, Narges Mohammadi, and Shirin Ebadi, have considered Rashidi’s death part of the “silent killing” in Iranian prisons and have called for the closure of Qarchak Prison.

Rashidi’s death is only one example of the broader process of depriving prisoners of treatment in Iran. According to Hrana’s annual report, in the past five years, the deprivation of proper treatment for political and ideological prisoners has increased eightfold compared to the previous similar period. In 2024 alone, at least 412 cases of prison officials preventing prisoners’ access to medical services have been documented.

Qarchak Prison in Varamin, notorious as the “women’s hell,” with its “money in exchange for treatment” policy, threatens the lives of over 1,200 prisoners. Today, this prison is not only a symbol of cruelty toward female inmates, but evidence of the Islamic Republic’s organized policy of using “deprivation of treatment” as a tool to silence the voices of protesters.