New Case Formed Against Maryam Akbari Monfared, Three Months Before the End of Her Fifteenth Year in Prison

Maryam Akbari Monfared's lawyer, a plaintiff from the 1980s who has previously been sentenced to 15 years in prison, states that Iranian authorities have opened a new case against this political prisoner just a few months before the end of her sentence. According to her lawyer, Maryam Akbari Monfared has not been granted a single day of leave from prison during this time. Hossein Taj told the 'Shargh' news website: 'In October of this year, Ms. Akbari Monfared's 15-year sentence from the first case will end. She has not been granted a single day of leave during this period. Ms. Akbari Monfared has also been sentenced to 2 years in prison for another case. Recently, a new case has been formed against her based on a request from the Headquarters for Follow-up and Supervision of Cases related to Article 49 of the Constitution.' Hossein Taj added: 'In the claims made by this headquarters, statements have been attributed to Ms. Akbari Monfared's family and relatives. This headquarters has requested the seizure and ownership of the assets of the Akbari Monfared family and her relatives in favor of the 'Headquarters for the Implementation of the Imam's Command.' This case has been referred to Branch 6 of the Revolutionary Court, which is specifically for cases related to Article 49 of the Constitution. The time for the hearing of this case has not yet been determined, and only a supervision date has been set for August.' He states that according to current laws in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 'punishment should only be imposed on the individual and should not include their relatives.' It has been reported multiple times that the authorities in the clerical government of Iran have opened new cases against political prisoners whose sentences are nearing completion in order to extend their prison terms. In September 2023, it was reported that the Semnan Criminal Court sentenced Maryam Akbari Monfared to two years in prison for 'spreading falsehoods in cyberspace' and a fine of 15 million tomans in a new case. Maryam Akbari Monfared, born in 1975, is married and has three children. She was arrested on December 30, 2009, following the Ashura protests that year, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison by Abolqasem Salavati in Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran. The court stated that this political prisoner was accused of 'supporting the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization,' but Hassan Jafari, Maryam Akbari Monfared's husband, stated that her 'only connection' to this organization was 'a few phone calls with her siblings in Camp Ashraf in Iraq.' Three of Maryam Akbari Monfared's brothers and one sister were executed during the 1988 massacre. On the eve of Nowruz 1403, a group of former female inmates of Maryam Akbari Monfared called for her unconditional release. Forty-four women activists demanded her 'immediate and unconditional freedom.'