A Member of Parliament: Shabnam Niemat Zadeh Has Fled; Prosecutor's Office: She Is in Prison

Shortly after a member of parliament reported that "Shabnam Niemat Zadeh," a convict in an economic case, had fled and stated that "she is not in prison," the Tehran Prosecutor's Office denied this news. Ali Khazarian, a member of parliament, in an interview published today, said, "Relevant officials must explain how much of her 20-year prison sentence she has served." Shabnam Niemat Zadeh, daughter of the Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade in Rouhani's government, was arrested in September 2019 on charges of "monopolizing medicine and acquiring property through illegitimate means" and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, 74 lashes, permanent deprivation of government services, and restitution for "disruption of the country's economic system." Shortly after the news was published, the public relations office of the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office announced in response that the "rumor" about Shabnam Niemat Zadeh being a fugitive "is not true" and that this "economic convict" is currently in Evin Prison, and the news of her "fugitive status is completely false." The prosecutor's explanation in denying Niemat Zadeh's "fugitive status" indicates that "she had previously" been granted a maximum of 3 days of monthly leave after providing appropriate bail, but she "was absent for a while," which the prosecutor claims led to the issuance of an arrest warrant and her return to prison. The Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office also emphasized that "this economic convict had heavy bail that was immediately confiscated by the prosecutor's order after her unjustified absence, and her arrest was carried out by the Tehran prosecutor's operational team." Some prisoners in the Islamic Republic who have connections to former or current officials benefit from the possibility of "leave" from prison, while according to reports from human rights organizations, hundreds of political prisoners have been in the Islamic Republic's prisons for years without any leave rights.