Narges Mohammadi's mother: My daughter is not safe in Zanjan prison
In a letter to the head of the judiciary, Ms. Ozra Bazargan expressed concern about her sick daughter being held among ordinary criminal defendants, the unsanitary prison environment, and the risks to her physical and mental health.
Narges Mohammadi's mother writes in this letter that her daughter has been sexually and physically threatened by a prisoner accused of murder and robbery: "Her 90-year-old father and I are concerned about our daughter's physical and mental health and are declaring a state of emergency, and we hold the judicial system responsible for any incident."
The letter states that Narges Mohammadi does not feel psychologically safe in a prison where methamphetamine is easily available, and that she cannot eat the prison's high-camphor and fatty food due to digestive problems.
Narges Mohammadi is currently serving a 16-year sentence. Six years of this sentence were issued for propaganda against the regime and another 10 years for her activities in the “Step by Step to Abolish the Death Penalty” campaign. She had been imprisoned in Evin Prison since May 2015, and was deported to Zanjan Prison in January 2019, and her transfer to this prison was accompanied by physical violence from the Evin prison governor.
Zanjan Prison does not have a separate ward for holding prisoners of conscience and political prisoners, and Ms. Mohammadi is held with ordinary prisoners, criminals, and drug addicts.
Her mother writes to Ebrahim Raisi: "This prison is at the lowest level in terms of hygiene; dishes are washed in a dirty and old cement pit inside the bathroom, and they do not even agree to buy disinfectants at my daughter's expense. Under the pressure of long interrogations and confinement in solitary cells, Narges has developed digestive, nervous, and esophageal diseases, and has undergone three major surgeries during her imprisonment..."
Narges Mohammadi, vice president and spokesperson for the Center for Human Rights Defenders, was transferred to Zanjan Prison after a sit-in in Evin Prison in solidarity with the victims of the November protests. In the meantime, security authorities have opened two new cases against her, citing events during her imprisonment as the reason.
The Zanjan Prosecutor's Office introduces "publishing political statements, holding educational classes, and protest sit-ins in the women's ward" as evidence of the new charges.
Source: DW
