On the Eve of Nowruz 1403, a Group of Former Female Prisoners Calls for the Unconditional Release of Maryam Akbari Monfared

On the eve of Nowruz 1403, over 60 former female prisoners of Maryam Akbari Monfared issued a statement, recalling her fourteen years of imprisonment without even a single day of leave, and demanding her unconditional release. Maryam Akbari Monfared, a member of the families of the bereaved, born in 1975, is married and has three children. She was arrested on December 30, 2009, following the protests on Ashura, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison by Abolqasem Salavati in Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran. According to the Human Rights Defenders Association, 60 former female prisoners stated in their declaration: 'We, her former cellmates, regardless of our beliefs, remember the spring of prison with Maryam and her enthusiasm as we approach Nowruz, yet another Nowruz with her still in prison. We recall her understanding of freedom and her right to enjoy freedom, and we remember the oppression that has befallen the women of this land and the leaders of the struggle and resistance against that oppression.' They further emphasized in their statement, 'It has been 5,107 days that Maryam Akbari Monfared has been imprisoned without the right to leave; she was arrested at midnight on December 30, 2009, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.' The former female prisoners of Maryam Akbari Monfared stated that this political prisoner is spending her fourteenth year of imprisonment while she has been exiled to Semnan prison, kilometers away from her family's residence, since March 9, 2021, and 'recently, due to her solidarity with the protesting people through issuing statements, she has been sentenced to an additional three years in prison.' The signatories of the statement, in solidarity with current and former political prisoners, have called for the unconditional release of Maryam Akbari Monfared and all political and ideological prisoners. The Semnan Criminal Court has recently sentenced Maryam Akbari Monfared to three years in a new case. According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, her charges include 'propaganda against the regime,' 'gathering and colluding against national security,' and 'insulting' Khamenei. This political prisoner is accused of 'supporting the People's Mujahedin Organization,' but according to her husband, Hassan Jafari, her only connection to this organization has been 'a few phone calls with her siblings in Camp Ashraf in Iraq.' Two of Maryam Akbari Monfared's brothers were executed during the 1980s, and one sister and one brother were also executed during the mass execution of political prisoners in the summer of 1988. Maryam Akbari Monfared has been sentenced to three more years in prison. Maryam Akbari Monfared was sentenced to two years in prison on the eve of her fourteenth year in prison. Forty-four female activists have called for her 'immediate and unconditional release.' Two new cases with security charges have been opened against Maryam Akbari Monfared. Reports have emerged about the poor conditions of prisoners in Iran two days after the publication of Javid Rahman's report. A Twitter storm in support of a political prisoner; Maryam Akbari Monfared has not taken leave in the past 12 years.