Iran Regime Pressure on Imprisoned Mother and Daughter for Opposing Mandatory Hijab; Report on Saba Kord Afshari and Raheleh Ahmadi’s Conditions in Prison
According to an informed source, the health condition of Saba Kord Afshari in prison is inadequate, and her mother Raheleh Ahmadi, despite having a sentence of less than 5 years, is not being granted furlough.
An informed source, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, told the Farsi section of Voice of America that Saba Kord Afshari, a civil activist imprisoned in Iran, who had previously suffered from digestive and stomach problems from her previous detention, has experienced stomach bleeding several times in prison. According to this source, among the reasons for these illnesses have been extended solitary confinement, psychological torture, and the nervous pressure exerted on this civil activist in prison. Furthermore, since at least one and a half years ago when Ms. Kord Afshari was transferred to the women’s ward of Evin Prison, her condition has become more severe.
The informed source stated that after Saba Kord Afshari was transferred to the women’s ward, based on a test conducted at the prison clinic, it was determined that she had internal stomach and intestinal bleeding. At the same time, it was announced that since the prison clinic did not have complete equipment, Ms. Kord Afshari should be transferred to a hospital outside the prison for treatment. However, according to this informed source, for one and a half years the authorities had refused, and each time the family and her lawyer were told that the transfer of a political prisoner to a hospital outside the prison must be done with the approval and order of the prosecutor’s office.
The informed source added that after one and a half years of waiting and after the prosecutor’s approval, this civil activist was transferred to Taleghani Hospital for treatment. The treating physician there announced that she had internal bleeding and tests such as endoscopy and colonoscopy needed to be performed. However, although Ms. Kord Afshari has been transferred to the hospital at least three times to date, these tests have not been performed for unjustifiable reasons such as late arrival at the hospital or lack of funds for treatment, and this civil activist currently does not have an appropriate physical condition.
Injustice in an Overturned Verdict
This informed source told Voice of America regarding the situation of this imprisoned civil activist that Judge Afshari, head of the Revolutionary Court, initially sentenced Saba Kord Afshari to 24 years in prison, of which 15 years were enforceable. This verdict was reduced to 9 years by the court of appeals in the last month of the previous year, a sentence of which only 7.5 years were enforceable. However, in June of the current year, a letter from the prosecutor’s office was given to Saba in prison, based on which the 24-year prison sentence, of which 15 years are enforceable, has been notified to her again.
According to this informed person, the family and lawyer, upon hearing this news, approached the judicial authority, court, prosecutor’s office, and even the prison to pursue the case again and the new verdict that had been notified to this prisoner. According to this source, “what was interesting here was that the notification sent to Saba and her lawyer last month regarding the overturning of the verdict was removed from the file, and the authorities were concealing this notification.”
This informed source told Voice of America that after the authorities could not provide any convincing answer to the family and lawyer, the lawyer submitted a request for retrial to the Supreme Court at least three weeks ago and is currently waiting for a response from the Supreme Court.
This informed person also told Voice of America regarding the case of Raheleh Ahmadi, an imprisoned civil activist and mother of Saba Kord Afshari, that although Ms. Ahmadi’s sentence is under 5 years and she was transferred to Evin Prison from late February of last year, to date no furlough has been approved for her. This is while based on a circular from the last month of the previous year from the judicial authority of the Islamic Republic, political prisoners whose sentences are under 5 years can be granted furlough.
Voice of America had previously reported that Raheleh Ahmadi, the mother of this imprisoned civil activist, was also arrested on Saturday, the 26th of February last month, after appearing at Branch 3 of the Implementation of Sentences of the General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office of Tehran, and was transferred to Evin Prison to serve her sentence. She had previously been sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison by the Revolutionary Court of Tehran.
According to this informed source, the family of these two political prisoners has repeatedly approached the prison’s case manager, who is responsible for prisoner furloughs, to request furloughs for these two civil activists; however, all these efforts have been fruitless and no furlough has been approved for Ms. Ahmadi and Saba Kord Afshari.
This informed person, regarding the pressure exerted on the families of political and civil prisoners including Saba Kord Afshari and Raheleh Ahmadi, said: “The Islamic Republic wants to exert the most severe pressure on political prisoners and their families so that they remain silent and their voice does not reach anywhere. What the Islamic Republic does with prisoners and their families is like torture. When a mother is left in prison with her sick child, this is torture. A mother who sees her child cannot eat due to digestive illness—this is a torment for her. They simply want to inflict psychological and mental torture on the prisoner and their family.”
The United States has repeatedly condemned harsh treatment and widespread repression of protesters and civil activists, as well as repeated and continuous violations of the rights of Iranian citizens by the ruling regime of that country in various cases.
Source: Voice of America
