Unlawful transfer of Elham Barmaki from Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin
6-October-2020
Category: Prisoners، Women
Breathing in Confinement: On October 5, 2020, Elham Barmaki was transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin. The transfer happened despite the fact that her parole had been approved, and therefore, she should have already been released.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, Elham Barmaki, a prisoner in the women’s ward of Evin Prison, was transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin for unknown reasons. Elham Barmaki was sentenced to 10 years in prison as well as a fine of $ 300,000 for espionage. In April of this year, she was granted parole. Being unable to pay the fine, however, she is still being held in prison.
“Elham Barmaki should have been released on parole. She, however, is still being held in prison because of her inability to pay the fine. And yesterday despite the outbreak of Coronavirus infection in prisons, she was transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin for no reason,” an informed source told Breathing in Confinement on October 6. “While due to the lack of hygienic facilities, Covid-19 has widely spread in Qarchak prison, and accordingly, her transfer is very worrying and is endangering her life,” the source continued.
Elham Barmaki was arrested in the street on December 28, 2011, and was held in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison for three months; she was then released on bail and eventually acquitted.
She was arrested again on July 23, 2012, and on September 29, 2013, after enduring solitary confinement for 14 months in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, she was transferred to the women’s ward in Evin.
At Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided over by Judge Moqiseh, Ms. Barmaki was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 25,000 euros, 70,000 dollars, and 40 million tomans on charges of espionage.
In the current year, she was granted parole. However, she was returned back to the Evin’s women ward after 3 weeks. To be released, Ms. Barmaki has to pay $300,000 in ransom. She, however, has so far remained incarcerated as she couldn’t afford the payment.