Political prisoner Maryam Akbari-Monfared who has spent 13 years behind bars without a day of furlough for demanding justice for her four siblings, is facing new fabricated charges of “propaganda” brought by the Ministry of Intelligence. She has been denied medical treatment in Semnan Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, the Ministry of Intelligence has opened a new fabricated case against political prisoner Maryam Akbari-Monfared who is spending her 13th year behind bars in Semnan Prison, where she was exiled to from Evin Prison on 9 March 2021. She has been charged with “propaganda against the system” in the new case.
Speaking to Iran Human Rights, an informed source said: “First, they sent a summons to appear in court on July 16 which Mrs Akbari-Monfared refused to attend as her lawyer had not been informed and stated that all summons should be sent to her lawyer. The new summons required her to be in court on July 19 which was unlawful because according to her lawyer, there should be five working days between the date that the summons is issued and the trial date. That’s why her lawyer, Mr Taj, protested and called off the trial.”
“After Maryam didn’t appear in court, prison authorities informed her that she must restart the process of appointing a lawyer. In protest, Mrs Akbari refused to sign anything. Neither her lawyer or family, or even Mrs Akbari herself know the reasons for the new charges,” the source added.
Maryam Akbari-Monfared has come under increasing pressure in recent days according to the source. Despite suffering from fatty liver disease, she has been denied medical care and treatment. On the other hand, other prisoners are banned from speaking to Maryam in an effort to further isolate and pressure her.
It is important to note that on 14 July 2022, just two days before Maryam was ordered to appear in court to face the new charges, a Swedish court sentenced Hamid Noury, a former IRGC member and assistant to the deputy prosecutor at Gohardasht Prison during the 1988 mass execution of political prisoners, to life imprisonment.
Maryam Akbari-Monfared was arrested following the 2009 nationwide protests at her home on 31 December 2009. She was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for moharebeh (enmity against god) and acting against national security by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court for a phone call from her dissident sibling in May 2010.
On 15 October 2016, she filed an official complaint from behind bars for an investigation into the execution of her siblings in the summer of 1988. In an open letter, she discussed the killings of her four siblings and the pressure her family had endured in the subsequent years. Her complaint was rejected by the judiciary and she was warned that such petitions would exacerbate her situation and prevent her release.
At trial, she was told by the judge that “she was paying for the activities of her brother and sister.” Undeterred, she sent another complaint two weeks later. She wrote: “I, Maryam Akbari-Monfared, demand investigations into the unlawful execution of my sister and brother and disclosure of the details including the identities of those responsible for their deaths, acquisition of their charges and other documents in their files and inquiry into applicable relevant laws, in particular Article 34 of the constitution that recognises seeking justice as the inalienable right of every individual.”
Maryam Akbari Monfared has been demanding justice for her siblings, 25-year-old Abdolreza who was arrested at 17 and executed in the 1988 massacre, 20-year-old Alireza who was executed by firing squad at 20, her sister 30-year-old Roghieh who had a 3 year old daughter at the time of her arrest and also executed in the 1988 massacre, and her 29-year-old brother Gholamreza who was killed under torture in 1985. Following the execution of her children in the 1988 massacre, Maryam’s mother, Gorji Bashiripour suffered a stroke and passed away without ever finding out where her children were buried.
The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances recognised Abdolreza and Roghieh as forcibly disappeared and the requested that the Islamic Republic disclose their fate and place and burial.
Source » iranhr