Exclusive; Shakila Monfared, Political Prisoner: The Head of the Prosecutor's Protection Physically Assaulted Me

Shakila Monfared, a political prisoner, confirmed in a letter obtained by VOA that the "head of the prosecutor's protection" physically assaulted her during her detention, and the beating was so severe that her hands became "completely bloody." Shakila Monfared, a monarchist political prisoner, was arrested on July 6, just before the end of her five-day medical leave, while visiting the prosecutor's office to request an extension of her leave and was transferred to the women's section of Evin Prison. In her letter, she wrote: "After undergoing an endoscopy at Mehrad Hospital, I went to the eighth district prosecutor's office and faced insults and beatings directed at myself and my father." She emphasized that "my treatment process was not fully completed, and the ultrasound of the pelvis and abdomen, blood and urine tests, and pathology results were not conducted," adding that she suffers from stomach ulcers: "I have two six-millimeter stomach ulcers and severe reflux from the stomach to the esophagus, which is evident in the images and results." Shakila Monfared, who had gone to the prosecutor's office with her father, Hossein Monfared, also wrote in this letter: "They removed my father's phone number from my phone card because he was present at the prosecutor's office and was defending me." According to this political prisoner, judicial officials at the prosecutor's office "pushed" her father and treated him with "insulting behavior." Shakila Monfared identified "Deputy Prosecutor Masoumeh Shaghaghi" as the cause of "all these issues," stating that she "obstructed the granting of leave" to her, and said: "I was returned to prison a day earlier." This monarchist political prisoner also stressed: "The amount of beating was so severe that my hands were completely bloody, and the head of the prosecutor's protection physically assaulted me and even handcuffed my hands from behind and slapped my ear." Shakila Monfared's letter about her arrest accompanied by beating and her latest health status was reported on Wednesday, July 6, coinciding with the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. An informed source told VOA that Shakila Monfared, a imprisoned political activist, was violently arrested on the fourth day of her five-day medical leave while she was visiting the prosecutor's office to extend her leave for further treatment. According to a previous report by VOA, the deputy prosecutor had called the interrogator for instructions, and the interrogator said, "Now that she has come this far, transfer her to prison." Shakila Monfared was transferred from Evin Prison to Taleghani Hospital in Tehran last summer on a one billion tomans bail for gallbladder surgery and was returned to prison without completing the recovery process. This monarchist political prisoner has been continuously imprisoned since February 2020 and has faced multiple fabricated cases during her imprisonment. The prevention of this political prisoner from accessing her right to medical treatment comes at a time when several prisoners have died due to lack of medical care or delays in treatment in the prisons of the Islamic Republic. According to the latest monthly report by HRANA on human rights violations in Iran, prisoners have faced medical neglect in at least 41 cases. Fatemeh Sepahri, one of the political prisoners facing a violation of her right to treatment, was imprisoned again in September 2022 shortly after undergoing surgery on her left hand. This political prisoner's left hand underwent surgery twice more during her imprisonment, but due to the prevention of completing the treatment process and without undergoing physiotherapy, her recovery was incomplete, and in addition, she developed a heart disease in prison and was transferred to the hospital for emergency open-heart surgery, but was returned to prison a few days later without completing treatment.