Narges Mohammadi access to essential medication delayed
On 23 June 2022, woman human rights defender, Narges Mohammadi, was transferred to hospital after displaying symptoms of heart arrhythmia and shortness of breath. After conducting an echocardiogram, doctors prescribed medication with instructions to take them urgently to alleviate the crisis. The woman human rights defender was returned to Qarchak prison from the hospital on the same day. On 27 June 2022, Narges Mohammadi announced to her family that she has received the most urgent prescription of an injection for her shortness of breath after four days delay.
On 25 January 2022, woman human rights defender, Narges Mohammadi informed her family that Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court has sentenced her on the charge of “collusion against state security” to eight years and two months in prison, 74 lashes, a two years ban from accessing telecommunications tools and social media, two years of exile outside of Tehran, and a two years ban on membership in political groups. The woman human rights defender received this sentence on 15 January 2022 in The woman human rights defender received this sentence on 15 January 2022 in Evin prison, in Tehran.
Narges Mohammadi is a woman human rights defender, deputy director and spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) in Iran. She has campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty in Iran, and was awarded the Per Anger Prize by the Swedish government for her human rights work in 2011. The woman human rights defender continued her human rights activities while in detention and most recently has been campaigning against the torture strategy known as “White Torture” which includes the cruel use of solitary confinement and other abusive
treatment and conditions for prisoners in Iran.
On 23 June 2022, woman human rights defender, Narges Mohammadi, was transferred to hospital after displaying symptoms of heart arrhythmia and shortness of breath. After conducting an echocardiogram, doctors prescribed medication with instructions to take them urgently to alleviate the crisis. The woman human rights defender was returned to Qarchak prison from the hospital on the same day. On 27 June 2022, Narges Mohammadi announced to her family that she has received the most urgent prescription of an injection for her shortness of breath after four days delay.
Previously, on 19 February 2022, Narges Mohammadi had been hospitalised with a 75% blockage of one of her coronary arteries and she underwent emergency surgery. On 22 February 2022 she secured a release on temporary medical furlough. On 22 April 2022 she was violently rearrested at her apartment and returned to prison before she was fully recovered from suffering multiple heart attacks in November 2021.
On 25 January 2022, woman human rights defender, Narges Mohammadi informed her family that Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court had sentenced her on the charge of “collusion against state security” to eight years and two months in prison, 74 lashes, a two year ban from accessing telecommunications tools and social media, two years of exile outside of Tehran, and a two year ban on membership in political groups.
The woman human rights defender has been unjustly imprisoned for the most part of the last five years, and had received another long sentence of eight years early this year while being held in solitary confinement for over two months, predominantly incommunicado. Front Line Defenders is particularily concerned given the vulnerable health condition of the woman human rights defender, her cardiac problems and the living conditions for detainees in the Qarchak prison, which are known to be highly pathogenic. Front Line Defenders believes that the treatment of Narges Mohammadi in Qarchak prison, and the denial and delay of access to medical furlough and necessary medication, is solely due to her peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights, including while in detention in Iran.
On 25 January 2022, woman human rights defender, Narges Mohammadi informed her family that Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court has sentenced her on the charge of “collusion against state security” to eight years and two months in prison, 74 lashes, a two years ban from accessing telecommunications tools and social media, two years of exile outside of Tehran, and a two years ban on membership in political groups. The woman human rights defender received this sentence on 15 January 2022 in The woman human rights defender received this sentence on 15 January 2022 in Evin prison, in Tehran.
Narges Mohammadi is a woman human rights defender, deputy director and spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) in Iran. She has campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty in Iran, and was awarded the Per Anger Prize by the Swedish government for her human rights work in 2011. The woman human rights defender continued her human rights activities while in detention and most recently has been campaigning against the torture strategy known as “White Torture” which includes the cruel use of solitary confinement and other abusive
treatment and conditions for prisoners in Iran.
On 25 January 2022, woman human rights defender Narges Mohammadi informed her family about the new sentence imposed on her by Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court. The sentence concerns eight years and two months in prison, 74 lashes, a two years ban on using and having telecommunications tools and social media, two years of exile and two years of ban on membership in political groups. The court’s decision was based on the charge of “collusion against state’s security”.
On 19 January 2022, Narges Mohammadi was transferred to Qarchak prison, in Varamin, a neighborhood in Tehran. The woman human rights defender has been denied access to telephone calls during solitary confinement, as well as access to her family and to her lawyer. For over two months, she was held in solitary confinement in Ward 2A of Evin prison, in Tehran, which is run by the intelligence service of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps since 17 November 2021. While she was in solitary confinement in Evin prison, new charges were brought against her.
On 12 January 2022, the woman human rights defender was summoned to trial, which only lasted five minutes. The trial took place after she was held in a solitary confinement for 64 consecutive days, 40 days of which she was incommunicado with no access to phone calls to her family. Narges Mohammadi has also been denied access to her lawyer up until now, despite multiple requests to so so (including in writing on 16 November 2021).
On 22 November 2021, Narges Mohammadi was brought before Shahid Moqadas Amniat (Evin) Court for a hearing regarding new charges against her and a list of human rights activities flagged as criminal acts that she has been undertaking since her release in October 2020. These activities include her nomination for a Noble Peace Prize, which has reportedly been interpreted as “espionage for a hostile state,” “participation in a memorial of the victims of November 2019 mass protest”, and “commemoration of the victims of the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 shot down in January 2020 by the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)”. The list also refers to the book “White Torture”, which includes testimonies of victims of solitary confinement and those who spoke out against the sexual abuse of women prisoners in the Iranian prisons.
This is not the first time that Narges Mohammadi is facing multiple acts of judicial harassment due to her peaceful human rights work in Iran. In another case dating back to 22 May 2021, she was informed that Branch 1177 of the Criminal Court II of Quds Judicial Complex had sentenced her to 30 months in prison, 80 lashes and two fines. One of the fines amounts to 100 million IRR, while the second is to be announced by the Iranian Organization of Prisons. The woman human rights defender was charged with “propaganda activity against the state” for publishing statements against death penalty, staging a sit-in the Evin prison’s bureau, disobeying the prison’s authorities to end the sit-in, breaking the windows and allegedly physical assaulting the prison’s authorities.
Front Line Defenders is extremely concerned that the woman human rights defender, who has been unjustly imprisoned for most part of the last five years, has received another long sentence while being held in a solitary confinement for over two months, predominantly incommunicado. Front Line Defenders believes that the continued prosecution of Narges Mohammadi is in reprisal for her peaceful and legitimate efforts to promote and protect human rights in Iran.
