Ban on Phone Calls and Visits for Narges Mohammadi Extended 'By Order of Security Agencies'

The family of Narges Mohammadi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate currently imprisoned, announced on her Instagram page that while the ban on her phone calls and visits was supposed to be lifted on February 4, it has been extended following her letter to the UN Secretary-General. According to reports, since November 29, approximately two and a half months ago, Mohammadi's phone calls and visits have been cut off by security officials under the pretext of 'activities inside the prison' and sending materials and writings outside the prison. It was stated on Mohammadi's Instagram that her phone calls and visits were supposed to resume on February 4, but the head of the women's ward of Evin Prison, following a new directive from security agencies 'due to her letter to the UN Secretary-General and the request to criminalize apartheid,' has prevented the lifting of this ban. In her previous letter to the UN Secretary-General, Mohammadi called for the 'criminalization of gender apartheid' and its recognition as 'one of the examples of crimes against humanity.' This imprisoned human rights activist, in a message published on her Instagram page on Thursday, February 1, addressed António Guterres and representatives of UN member states, referring to decades of 'Iranian women's lives under the shadow of the Islamic Republic,' stating that the Islamic Republic has 'systematically and purposefully, using all government tools and powers, especially through legislation, advanced the policy of subjugating women and depriving them of their human rights.' Mohammadi has cited the issuance of flogging sentences for hijab violations or 'arbitrary imprisonments' against women as examples of 'cruel and inhuman punishments' leading to 'severe physical, sexual, and psychological harm, and even death for women.' She previously described the flogging of Roya Hashmati, an opponent of mandatory hijab, as 'a depiction of the 45-year history of gender apartheid of the authoritarian regime on the bodies of aware, proud women.' Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, continues to take a stand on issues concerning Iranian society and advocate for human rights demands in international communities from within prison. According to news sources in Iran, the intensification of restrictions on female prisoners in Evin came after they protested against the presence of judicial officials in the women's ward by singing protest songs and chanting slogans. Despite the increased pressures, imprisoned female activists continue to resist and protest against unjust sentences and raise awareness about prison conditions. Political prisoners held in the women's ward of Evin Prison also announced earlier this month that they would go on hunger strike after learning that ten political prisoners in Qezel Hesar would hunger strike in protest against executions and to stop them. The ban on visits and phone calls for Nasim Sultanbeigi in Evin Prison has also been extended. Three detained female journalists have been deprived of visits; the reason: singing protest songs. Exclusive: Beating of Saman Yasin in 'Qezel Hesar'; crime: 'speaking Kurdish' with family. Pressure on Nahid Shirpich, mother of Pouya Bakhtiari, in Zanjan Prison: cutting off phone calls and visits.