Meeting of Families of Political Prisoners in Iran with the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression

Today, a number of families of political and press prisoners in Iran met with Mr. Ambeyi Ligabo (the representative and special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression of the UN Human Rights Commission), who has traveled to the country to investigate issues such as discrimination, threats, harassment, and violence against political and press activists. After the meeting, Narges Mohammadi, the wife of Taghi Rahmani, spoke to reporters about the discussions with Mr. Ligabo, stating: 'In this meeting, I talked about the detention of my husband, how he is being held, and his previous detentions. Mr. Ligabo also asked me about the status of freedom of expression, to which I responded.' Additionally, Parvin Bakhtiarnejad, the wife of Reza Alijani, said: 'We raised our issues with Mr. Ligabo and discussed the situation of prisoners and their detention and treatment over the past few years; we also explained the illegal detentions without presenting valid and justifiable reasons.' She expressed that there were families whose children had been tortured, and they explained all those tortures to Ligabo. Bakhtiarnejad continued: 'Everyone's request was for this rapporteur to work for their freedom and the freedom of expression and to put an end to these unjust detentions.' She then noted: 'We may be able to gather now and express our issues, but we have to bear the consequences and costs of this ourselves and our husbands. Unfortunately, these detentions have continued to the extent that we had to tell them our issues.' The wife of Reza Alijani also told reporters: 'We have repeatedly approached our domestic authorities, but our problems remain unresolved. We regret that our issues are not resolved within the country, and the authorities do not pay attention to the problems we raise; our husbands have paid these costs for expressing the issues in society.' According to ISNA news agency, Mr. Ligabo stated during this meeting that he has plans to visit Mr. Alijani, Mr. Saber, and Mr. Rahmani in prison based on a prepared list. It is noteworthy that during today's meeting with the special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression of the UN Human Rights Commission, families of Ahmad Bati, Hashem Aghajari, Akbar Ganji, Azam Taleghani, Saqi Baghernia, Farzad Hamidi, Fakhravar, Sahrahi, and Tabarzadi were also present.