A talk with Mr. Hassan Jafari regarding the three-day hunger strike of his wife, Maryam Akbari Monfared, the political prisoner in Semnan Prison
24-April-2021
Category: Uncategorized
24-April-2021
Newsgroup: Women – Prisoners –
Breathing in Confinement: More than 40 days have passed since the deportation of Maryam Akbari Monfared to Semnan Prison. Pressures and restrictions on this political prisoner however, is still ongoing.
Her daily phone contacts with her family are limited and this political prisoner is only permitted to call her family at prison security office in the presence of an officer who has the right to hang up the phone in the middle of the conversation. In recent days, Mrs. Akbari had been on three days hunger strike , to protest against the pressures imposed on her. The problem that we had a talk about, with her husband, Mr. Hassan Jafari.
Mr. Hassan Jafari, Maryam’s husband, confirming the news about her three-day hunger strike, said: “During this period, they put a lot of pressure on her. They have also restricted her contacts with her daughters. All her contacts are made in the presence of an officer, and if the responsible officer is absent, we remain unaware of Maryam’s condition. This is a clear example of torture on her as well as the family.”
Her husband explained about Mrs. Akbari’s deportation to Semnan prison in her twelfth year of imprisonment. He said: “Her first deportation sentence was to Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj. However, as the women’s ward of this prison was closed, her deportation sentence was changed to Qarchak Prison in Varamin. Whereas, even as per their own laws, Maryam’s deportation to Semnan was illegal. This is because the prisoners must legally be kept in the city where they reside. Despite the situation of Covid-19 outbreak as well as the relevant travel restrictions, to meet her, we have to travel to Semnan. While Maryam’s phone calls are still restricted and therefore, her contacts with the family have been greatly reduced.”
According to Mr. Jafari, on the first night after her deportation, Maryam was held in an anti-narcotics detention center in Semnan province, without having access to her personal belongings. And the next day, she was interrogated by the Ministry of Intelligence. “A day after deportation, two agents from the Ministry of Intelligence interrogated her for several hours. Maryam said that she had not asked anyone for help and stopped responding them,” Maryam’s husband continued.
Regarding the harassment of this political prisoner by the security forces, Mr. Jafari added: “Maryam has repeatedly requested that her contacts to her family be like those of other prisoners from inside the ward. This is part of the prisoners’ basic rights. The prison authorities however, have told her that this decision was not in their hands and that the higher authorities had asked them to have Maryam’s phone calls made exclusively in the presence of an officer. Recently, in the middle of Maryam’s conversation with her daughters, the officer who was standing next to her, hung up the phone, and left us unaware of her situation. This worrying circumstance is repeatedly happening for our family.”
Regarding the decision of this political prisoner to go on hunger strike, Maryam Akbari’s husband said: “She has been following up this problem from the first day of her deportation to Semnan Prison. She even met the head of the prison as well as the head of the prison’s security department twice and expressed her protest against this situation. They however, did not take any action, saying that this was not in their hands. This is why, the last time after the line was cut off by the officer, Maryam went on hunger strike to protest against this situation. In response to her hunger strike however, the head of the prison threatened her to ban her contacts as well as her visits. Afterward, the girls and I, requested her to end her hunger strike so that we could pursue the matter with our lawyer.”
According to Mr. Jafari, the food quality in Semnan Prison is not good. He said: “The food is not edible at all. And considering Maryam’s previous history of gallstones and the surgery she had for that a few years ago, prison food deteriorates her condition. And that is why, Maryam prefers to eat bread and cheese rather than the prison food. As in Semnan prison, it is not possible for the prisoners to prepare their own food, and they have to eat whatever food the prison provides them with.”
Mr. Jafari added: “The women’s ward of Semnan Prison is also in poor hygienic condition. Prisoners have to use shared slippers for going to the bathroom, walking in the yard and etc. This has resulted into the spread of skin and fungal diseases among the prisoners. Despite the spread of Covid-19, prison officials do not provide any disinfectants to the prisoners. Detergents supply also is very limited.”
We asked Mr. Jafari about the reason for harassing Mrs. Akbari after enduring 12 years of imprisonment without even a single day leave. He responded: “Maryam has been under increasing pressure since she filed a lawsuit against execution of her siblings in 1980s.” He added: “She was always under pressure, but her situation got worse after filing the complaint. Ministry of Intelligence interrogators had repeatedly threatened her to either withdraw her complaint or be deported to a far away place. In the court also, Judge Salavati told her that she was paying for her siblings.”
Three brothers and a sister of Maryam Akbari Monfared were executed in the 1980s. Her sister and one of her brothers along with thousands of other political prisoners were executed in the 1988 massacre.
According to Amnesty International, this political prisoner has been retaliated against, in 2016 for filing a complaint and seeking a formal investigation into the mass killing of political prisoners including his siblings, in the summer of 1988. As a result, she was denied the right to access medical services and also to visit her family.
Finally, Mr. Jafari called on all international authorities, human rights organizations, and human rights activists to be the voice of Maryam Akbari who after 11 years in prison, has been facing so much difficulties and restrictions.