Identifying Unknown Prisoners; Exclusive Interview with Zahra Kohnekār by Voice of America

Zahra Kohnekār, a political prisoner who was active on social media under the pseudonym "Sepandāzar" before her arrest, revealed details about her case, the violation of women's political prisoners' rights in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad, in an interview with the Persian section of Voice of America. This monarchist political prisoner stated in an interview with Siamak Dehghanpour from Voice of America that she was arrested last year on charges of "bombing on 22 Bahman," adding that although this charge was "not proven, other charges" were attributed to her. The charges against Ms. Kohnekār include "training and manufacturing explosives, destruction with explosives, insulting sacred beliefs and apostasy, encouraging individuals to access obscene content, inciting violence and killing, membership in opposition groups to disrupt the country's security, insulting the leader, and propaganda against the regime." She added that the attribution of "encouraging individuals to access obscene content" was due to the publication of a "video without hijab and without a clear face" on social media, and it is unclear why judicial authorities have combined this with the charge of "inciting bloodshed and killing." According to Ms. Kohnekār, during her month-long detention in solitary confinement during the interrogation period, despite her main page under the name "Sepandāzar" being taken down, the Islamic Republic's intelligence forces "created a second page for her and posted on her behalf, publishing insulting content against others, including her friends." This political prisoner also stated: "They insulted many people with exactly the same font that I wrote and with the same background image. Even my friends did not realize that it was not me and fell for the intelligence game, and unfortunately, they acted against me and made accusations. No one believed I was in prison and said I had gone to Turkey." Zahra Kohnekār stated that despite her arrest, for a long time she was "not registered in the judicial system as having been arrested," saying: "Six months later, when I had access to documents that I could make public, the media said they would not work with someone who has a definitive sentence." The identification and arrest of activists active on social media and the misuse of their accounts by the Islamic Republic's intelligence agencies to identify other users has a history. For instance, the lawyer of Amir Hossein Mousavi, a political activist who operated under the pseudonym "James Beidin" on social media, previously told Voice of America that intelligence forces used his accounts on social media to track and identify other activists during the two weeks of ignorance about this political prisoner's arrest, resulting in at least eight individuals being arrested. Ms. Kohnekār also emphasized that "I did not say anything against anyone, and when I was with the intelligence, I did not fill out any papers against anyone or identify anyone," stressing: "Through the monarchist kids and the VOA network, the name Sepandāzar came up, and I was able to prove that I have been in prison for a year." Previously, Voice of America reported that "the situation of several political prisoners, including Farzaneh Qarahasanlu, Fahimeh Tashakori, Aghrin Sediqi, and Zahra Kohnekār, is very difficult." Ms. Kohnekār, who is held in Ward 5 of Vakilabad prison along with Fatemeh Sepahri and Farzaneh Qarahasanlu, further emphasized: "Only the three of us remain. It is a very bad environment, and that is why we went on a hunger strike for a week, but no problem was solved." She described the substandard conditions of this prison: "They put so much psychological pressure on us that I want to bang my head against the wall. I can say that the cemetery of Mashhad has more living people than Mashhad prison." This political prisoner added: "We are completely forgotten. The door is closed on us. Many times we have called out due to bad health, and no one has responded. The prison water is in very bad condition and cannot be used; we have needed water many times, and they have not opened the door for hours." Human rights sources have warned about the human rights violations by the Islamic Republic's prison organization. Previously, Voice of America has reported on human rights violations of prisoners in various prisons in Iran, including in Alborz and Razavi Khorasan provinces, focusing on the "systematic abuse of prisoners" by the Islamic Republic's judiciary.