After 15 Years of Imprisonment Maryam Akbari Is Transferred

From Exile in Semnan Prison to Qarchak Prison for Further Torture and Abuse

Maryam Akbari Monfared, after 15 years of imprisonment without a single day of furlough, was transferred from her place of exile in Semnan Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin for increased harassment and abuse. To prevent Maryam Akbari Monfared's release after completing her 15-year sentence, the regime’s judiciary condemned her to an additional 2 years of imprisonment through another fabricated case.

Maryam, who is one of the longest-serving female political prisoners in Iran, should have been released in 2019 after serving 10 years in prison according to the regime's own laws and regulations. However, the regime’s judiciary kept her imprisoned for an additional 5 years and has now added two more years to her sentence.

To prevent Maryam's release, they convicted her of additional prison time through two separate cases fabricated by the Ministry of Intelligence, conducting two show trials in Semnan and Evin.

Her new alleged crimes are "propaganda against the system" and "insulting the leadership, assembly and collusion, spreading lies and disturbing public opinion, and inciting people against national security." However, Maryam Akbari Monfared's main crime is seeking justice in 2016 for her sister and three brothers who were martyred.

Alireza Akbari was martyred under torture in September 1981, and Gholamreza Akbari was executed in 1985. Roghayeh and Abdolreza Akbari were martyred during the political prisoners' massacre in 1988.

In another vile and predatory action, in July 2024, the regime’s judiciary issued an order to confiscate the property of Maryam Akbari and her relatives for seeking justice for her three brothers and sister who were executed.

Prof. Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, wrote about Maryam Akbari in his report on "Atrocity Crimes" in Iran published last July: " One poignant example illustrating this pattern of harassment and persecution is the case of Maryam Akbari-Monfared, a political prisoner in the country. Ms. Akbari-Monfared displayed immense courage by filing an official complaint from inside prison on 15 October 2016, addressing the Iranian judiciary regarding the execution of her siblings during the 1988 massacre. In response to her pursuit of accountability, she has faced increased pressure while incarcerated, including the denial of visitations and her forced exile to a remote location, far from her children… Despite enduring a 15-year sentence without a single day of furlough, ... she was summoned to the Courthouse of Evin Prison and arraigned on five new charges, subsequently receiving an additional two-year sentence... her continued detention is aimed at coercing her into renouncing her pursuit of accountability."

The Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, as noted in its statement of October 12, 2024, once again calls on the UN High Commissioner and Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, and other human rights and women's rights advocates to strongly condemn the inhumane treatment of political prisoners, especially female prisoners, by the clerical regime and take immediate action for the release of Maryam Akbari.

National Council of Resistance of Iran - Women's Committee

October 22, 2024

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Click here to read this statement on the NCRI Women’s Committee website.

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