Sakineh Parvaneh, Kurdish political prisoner, transferred from Mashhad prison to Evin for 'unknown reasons'

A human rights source reported that Sakineh Parvaneh, a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to seven years and six months in prison for 'propaganda against the regime', 'gathering and collusion', and 'insulting the leadership of the Islamic Republic', has been transferred 'for unknown reasons' from Mashhad Central Prison to Evin Prison. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network announced on Wednesday, April 15, that Ms. Parvaneh's transfer from Mashhad to Tehran comes as she had requested to be moved to the prison in her hometown of Quchan in Razavi Khorasan Province due to her family's residence there. Earlier this week, judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic had also transferred Saeed Madani, another political prisoner, from Evin to Damavand prison 'in violation of prison regulations'. One of the charges against Sakineh Parvaneh was her presence at the grave of Ali Mozaffari, a victim of the protests against the killing of Mahsa (Jina) Amini in Quchan. Ms. Parvaneh's court session was held in early September of last year without the presence of her appointed lawyer at the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Mashhad, and since the issuance of the verdict, the court has not allowed her lawyer access to the case file or to appeal the ruling. Despite Ms. Parvaneh suffering from respiratory and heart problems during this time, Mashhad prison officials had prevented her transfer to medical facilities. Her phone calls with her family were also conducted only in the presence of prison guards, briefly, and in Persian. Sakineh Parvaneh was arrested on April 15, 2023, at Mashhad terminal by agents of the IRGC Intelligence Organization and transferred to Mashhad Central Prison on April 25. She was released from prison on February 15, 2023, after four years of her sentence following a general amnesty, and was detained again for four days in Tehran in mid-March of that year. In June 2020, Sakineh Parvaneh was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of prohibition from membership in political groups for alleged membership in 'anti-regime groups'. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, Sakineh Parvaneh has been subjected to physical and psychological torture by the IRGC Intelligence Organization for forced confessions multiple times over the past years and has gone on hunger strikes several times.