Extension of Travel Ban for Maryam Mambini, Wife of Kavous Seyed-Emami

The defense attorney for Maryam Mambini, the wife of Kavous Seyed-Emami, announced that the travel ban against his client has been extended by Amin Naseri, the head of the security prosecutor's office at Evin Prison. In an interview with the IRNA news agency on Tuesday, Peyman Darafshan stated that on Monday, February 29, he visited the prosecutor's office at Evin Prison to follow up on the travel ban issue concerning his client. According to Mr. Darafshan, the head of the security prosecutor's office informed the guards via phone that the travel ban against Maryam Mambini has not been revoked and has been extended. The lawyer reported sending a letter to the Tehran prosecutor regarding the extension of his client's travel ban and added that no charges have ever been brought against her, and she has always been summoned as a witness. Kavous Seyed-Emami, a university professor, was arrested last year along with eight environmental activists, and on February 21, his family was informed that he had 'committed suicide' in prison. Amnesty International has described the 'prevention of independent investigations' into Seyed-Emami's 'highly suspicious death' as a sign of a 'deliberate and planned effort to conceal any evidence of torture and murder.' In Esfand last year, when Maryam Mambini, Kavous Seyed-Emami's wife, and their two sons intended to leave Iran for Canada, she was prevented from departing at the airport. On the anniversary of Kavous Seyed-Emami's death in prison, their son Ramin requested in an interview that his mother be allowed to leave the country, a request that was even raised by the Prime Minister of Canada last year. Just a few days after Kavous Seyed-Emami's death, his child reported that 'judicial agents interrogated and threatened his mother for three hours, warning her not to speak to the media about her husband's death, or she would also be arrested.' Following Kavous Seyed-Emami's death, despite a year passing, Sam Rajabi, Amir Hossein Khalighi, Hooman Jokar, Sepideh Kashani, Niloufar Bayani, Taher Ghadirian, Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, and Morad Tahbaz remain in 'temporary detention' by the IRGC's intelligence organization. Five court sessions for these environmental activists have been held without the presence of their appointed lawyers and with three lawyers 'trusted' by the judiciary present. Meanwhile, Kazem Hosseini, one of these lawyers, reported in an interview with IRNA that the IRGC agents do not even allow these lawyers to speak with the environmental activists during court sessions. While several government officials and members of parliament have repeatedly denied the accusations of 'espionage' against these environmental activists, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, mentioned the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference when asked about this issue, avoiding a direct answer.