Maryam Mehrabi, imprisoned teacher in Isfahan, continues hunger strike after four weeks

Maryam Mehrabi, a teacher imprisoned in the Dolatabad prison in Isfahan and sister of Mahmoud Mehrabi, a political prisoner sentenced to death, has been on a hunger strike for four weeks in protest against her prison sentence and is in a concerning physical condition. According to HRANA, Ms. Mehrabi has been on hunger strike since August 6 in protest against the prison sentence issued against her, raising concerns among her family. Maryam Mehrabi was arrested by security forces in Isfahan on June 19, 2024. Previously, she had also gone on a hunger strike in July 2024 in protest against her prolonged uncertainty in solitary confinement, which led to a deterioration in her health. In mid-August 2024, the first branch of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court, presided over by Mohammad Reza Tavakoli, sentenced Maryam Mehrabi to six years in prison, two years of service deprivation, and two years of travel ban. Her lawyer has requested a review of the sentence against this prisoner. Ms. Mehrabi was previously arrested in Esfand 1401 while pursuing her brother Mahmoud Mehrabi's case and transferred to Dolatabad prison in Isfahan. Maryam Mehrabi is the sister of Mahmoud Mehrabi, a political prisoner who was sentenced to death by the fifth branch of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court in May of this year. Her appeal was registered in the Supreme Court in June of this year. Although the Mizan news agency, the media organ of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, previously denied the issuance of a death sentence for Mahmoud Mehrabi 'due to activities in cyberspace,' it explained in the same report that the content of Mehrabi's case was based on 'the publication of materials' on social media, claiming that these materials included 'instructions on the use of homemade weapons, calls for the destruction of public property, incitement to war and killing, and insults to sacred beliefs.' Previously, a group of United Nations experts, including Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Jill Edwards, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and Morris Tidball-Binz, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial or arbitrary executions, issued a statement calling for the immediate cancellation of Mahmoud Mehrabi's death sentence and urged the Islamic Republic to stop issuing death sentences against individuals for expressing their opinions.