Athena Daemi's letter to her mother at the beginning of her fourth year in prison
Atena Daemi, a civil activist imprisoned in Evin, wrote a letter to her mother at the beginning of her fourth year in prison, in which she described in detail the experiences she had with herself in previous years.
Ms. Daemi's letter was published at a time when, according to her, she was banned from visiting her family for three weeks.
Atena Daemi was sentenced to 7 years in prison by the Iranian judiciary on charges of distributing nightly pamphlets, which carry the death penalty, and is currently serving her sentence.
In his letter to his mother on the eve of the beginning of his fourth year in prison, he wrote: "Four years ago on this same day, on the cold morning of October 19, 2014, I was on my way to work. You had gone to buy us hot bread. I was late and without seeing you, we left the house with my father. We hadn't even reached the end of the alley when they blocked our way. They ordered us to stop, arrested me, transferred me to another car, and returned home with my father. Eleven people. I didn't know what would happen when you returned home and encountered the officers. After an hour, they brought me home too. I was shocked to see you. I was shocked by your screams at the officers. You were saying, 'Take me away, take my daughter too. Where did you get to when you took all these young people?! Kill me, kill my daughter too. What did you gain by killing Sattar Beheshti and other young people?! They threatened to arrest you too. I remember you said, 'Take me away too.' Haven't you imprisoned and mourned enough mothers?"
"Athena Daemi" was arrested on October 19, 2014. After enduring 86 days of solitary confinement in Ward 2-A, she was transferred to the "Women's Ward" of Evin Prison on January 14 of the same year.
On May 15, 2015, he was charged by Judge Moghiseh in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court with "gathering and colluding against national security, propaganda against the system, and insulting the leadership" and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
On February 16, 2015, he was temporarily released on bail of 550 million Tomans until the appeals court held, and in that court, which was held in August 2016, his sentence was reduced to 7 years and was notified to him on October 27 of the same year.
On December 26, he was arrested at his father's house without receiving a summons, and in the "execution of Evin Court rulings," the final sentence was reduced to 5 years in prison by applying Article 134.
Ms. Daemi has been enduring prison without a single day of leave since December 26, 2016.
This civil activist, along with Maryam Akbari-Monfard and Golrokh Iraei, two other political prisoners imprisoned in Evin Prison, were denied family visits for three weeks on October 1, by a verbal order from the head of the prison's women's ward. The reason for this was stated to be verbal clashes and sloganeering by these prisoners in the visiting hall.
In her letter to her mother, Ms. Daemi recalled what had happened to her and her family, and praised her mother's patience, tolerance, and courage, and considered her mother's support to be one of the most important factors in enduring the difficult years of recent years.
She wrote: "We haven't seen each other for three weeks, but you went to see Ramin's mother and the families of Zanyar, Loghman, and Sharif in our burnt fire, you went to see Narges and Homa's mother and father, you didn't see me, but you embraced the pain and suffering of other mothers... My mother, convey my greetings to the grieving mothers of Iran and tell them that as long as I live, I will be the avenger of the blood of their children..."
The US State Department has pointed out in its annual human rights report the lack of respect for the rights of civil and social activists in Iran.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the largest prisons in the Middle East for civil society activists and journalists.
Source: Voice of America
