Maryam Akbari Monfared imprisoned in Semnan Prison is banned from visiting her family for 3 months
3-September-2022
Category: Prisoners، Women
August 30, 2022
News group: women – prisoners –
Breathing in Confinement: On Tuesday, August 30, the authorities of Semnan Prison banned the political prisoner, Maryam Akbari Monfared, from visiting her family for 3 months. Maryam Akbari who is serving the 13th year of her sentence, was also beaten last week by the head of the prison’s meeting hall.
According to “Breathing in Confinement”, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, on August 30, 2022, the authorities of Semnan prison banned the political prisoner, Maryam Akbari Monfared from visiting her family for 3 months.
“Because of her protest and resistance, Ms. Akbari Monfared has been banned from visiting her two daughters for 3 months,” said an informed source to the reporter of “Breathing in Confinement”.
The source added: “Her punishment is despite the fact that according to the prison regulations, in case a prisoner violates the prison regulations, forming a disciplinary council is is prerequisite for posing any punishment.”
Regarding the situation of Maryam Akbari Monfared also the source added: “This political prisoner has been denied the right to use of the prison telephone and is only allowed to make telephone calls in the presence of a prison guard. Banning her from visiting her family members therefore, extremely restricts her connection to her family. She has been punished while Majid Kurdi the deputy director of prison was the one who caused the tension and Mrs. Akbari Monfared was even beaten by Mrs. Hosseinipour.”
“Breathing in Confinement” had published a report last week regarding this political prisoner’s family visits.
On Wednesday, August 24, 2022, Maryam Akbari was beaten by the head of the prison’s meeting hall.
The political prisoner, Mrs. Akbari Monfared is spending her 13th year in Semnan prison.
In recent days, the pressure on this prisoner has intensified and a new case has been opened against her by Tehran’s Ministry of Intelligence on the charge of “propaganda against the regime”.
Maryam Akbari Monfared was arrested by the agents of the Ministry of Intelligence in December 2009, and was later sentenced to 15 years in prison in an unfair trial by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court headed by Judge Salvati for the charge of “Moharebeh”.
Three brothers and one sister of Maryam Akbari were executed in the prisons of the Islamic Republic in the 1980s. One of her brothers named Abdul Reza and her sister Ruqiya were among the prisoners executed in the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988.
In 2016, in a complaint to the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, Maryam Akbari asked about the reason for the execution and the burial place of her siblings. However, the case was never investigated. Instead, the officials of the Ministry of Intelligence threatened her to withdraw her complaint. They as well threatened her to cut off her access to essential treatments.
In February 2017, Maryam Akbari Monfared filed a complaint with the the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances asking the group to make the Islamic Republic accountable about the fate of her siblings.
Following her complaint, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances recognized Maryam’s siblings Ruqiya and Abdolreza Akbari Monfared as the victims of “enforced disappearance” and asked the Islamic Republic of Iran to she a light on their fate.
On October 17, 2016, after filing a complaint about the execution of her siblings in 1988, Maryam Akbari Monfared was denied medical care and threatened with adding 3 years to her prison sentence as well as being exiled to a prison in Sistan and Baluchestan.
In April 2019, Amnesty International issued a statement calling for the immediate release of Maryam Akbari Monfared and called on the Iranian authorities to end the “harassment” and “torture” of her and her family. Also, on August 27, 2021, Amnesty International issued a statement calling for immediate action to save the life of Maryam Akbari Monfared.