Saba Kordafshāri Threatened in Prison

The human rights website “Hrana” reports, citing an informed source, that Saba Kordafshāri, a civil activist and opponent of mandatory hijab who returned to Qarchak Varamin Prison on Saturday, September 27th after the end of her leave period, has been subjected to threats and harassment.

An informed source told Hrana that in the past week, two inmates convicted of common crimes in Ward 6 of Qarchak Varamin Prison, who had a history of harassing and threatening other inmates, were transferred to another location following complaints from ward residents. However, on Sunday, September 5th, one of these inmates threatened Ms. Kordafshāri with a blade in front of Ward 6.

The source stated, “It appears this incident may have been instigated by prison officials, as Ms. Kordafshāri is only one of the ward residents, and their transfer outside the ward was done following complaints from several inmates.”

According to Hrana, the failure to observe the principle of separating different types of crimes and officials’ disregard for the security and safety of inmates are among the reasons for such incidents occurring.

Saba Kordafshāri, born in 1998, was initially sentenced to a total of 24 years in prison by the Revolutionary Court. However, this sentence was reduced to 7 years and 6 months by the Appeals Court last March. This civil activist was transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak Varamin Prison in December 2020.

Source: Voice of America