Letter from Sohila Hijab from Prison: Iranian Prisoners of War Were Not Treated This Way During the Iran-Iraq War
Sohila Hijab, a political prisoner and opponent of mandatory hijab, who is currently serving her sentence in the women’s ward of the Kermanshah Correction and Training Center, wrote a letter detailing mistreatment and physical and psychological torture by prison officials, stating that “Iranian prisoners of war were not treated this way even during the Iran-Iraq War.”
Ms. Hijab, in a letter addressed to Ibrahim Raisi, the President of Iran and former head of the judiciary, emphasized that she and many other political prisoners are being tried in Iranian courts on frivolous charges and for crimes they did not commit, and are being transferred to lengthy solitary confinement.
In another section of this letter, published on Sunday, April 24, on the Hrana news website, Ms. Hijab stated that she is constantly subject to file-building and threats against her, and is repeatedly transferred from one prison to another.
Ms. Hijab, who was transferred to prison on June 24, 2020, to serve her sentence, was transferred on January 7 of last year from Sanandaj Prison to the Kermanshah Correction and Training Center. The women’s ward of Kermanshah Prison was transferred to the Kermanshah Correction and Training Center some time ago.
This civil and political activist was previously “forcibly” transferred from Qarchak Prison in Varamin to Sanandaj Prison.
Ms. Hijab was transferred to a hospital outside the prison in late February of last year due to deterioration of her physical condition following a coronavirus infection in prison and lack of adequate and timely access to medical care.
She has been sentenced to 18 years in prison by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on charges including “propaganda against the system,” “assembly and collusion,” “disturbing public opinion with intent to incite unrest,” and “forming an illegal group,” with five years considered the most severe punishment to be carried out.
Source: Radio Farda
