About 500 Iranian political activists called for the release of prisoners infected with coronavirus

A group of about 500 Iranian political activists published a letter addressed to Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the judiciary, calling for the release of prisoners infected with the coronavirus, including human rights activist Narges Mohammadi.

This letter, signed by figures such as Mehrdad Amanat, Emad al-Din Baghi, Faezeh Hashemi, Ahmad Montazeri, Alireza Beheshti Shirazi, Reyhaneh Tabatabaei, Fakhr al-Sadat Mohtashamipour, Keyvan Samimi, Kazem Alamdari, Masoumeh Dehghan, and Minoo Mortazi Langroudi, expresses concern about the spread of the coronavirus in Iranian prisons.

The signatories of the letter, referring to the closed prison environment and "failure to comply with health and medical standards," warned that "putting prisoners at risk of life and a dangerous epidemic is unjustifiable."

In recent days, reports have been published that Narges Mohammadi and a number of her fellow inmates in Zanjan Women's Prison have contracted the virus, which has fueled concerns about their health, but the responsible authorities have refused to grant them medical leave.

Before that, in May, environmental activist Sam Rajabi was confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus in Tehran's Evin Prison, and he was also unable to take advantage of the leave.

This comes at a time when Islamic Republic officials say that they have extended the leave of "100,000" prisoners and will grant leave to other prisoners as well to prevent prisoners from contracting the coronavirus.

Referring to these statements by Iranian officials, the signatories of the letter have called on the head of the judiciary to "continue to take seriously and continue granting leave and releasing prisoners of conscience and political prisoners."

The letter concludes: "We particularly request that sick leave be granted to Ms. Narges Mohammadi, who, according to her family, is currently suffering from symptoms of this disease in Zanjan General Prison and is at serious risk due to her underlying lung disease."

A number of other signatories to the letter include Mansoureh Shojaei, Nayreh Tohidi, Zahra Rabbani Amalshi, Sohrab Mokhtari, Shiva Nazarahari, Masoud Bastani, Mehdi Hajati, Farshad Ghorbanpour, and Mehdi Mahmoudian.

Iranian television attempted to portray Ms. Mohammadi's condition as favorable on Thursday by releasing a video of her in the Zanjan prison clinic. The video appears to have been secretly produced and her statements have been cut off.

Ms. Mohammadi had previously stated in a letter that she would file a legal complaint against the authorities for "lack of medical care" and "the imposition of harsh prison conditions."

Source: Radio Farda