Zahra Safaei suffers heart stroke after being harassed and mistreated by Qarchak Prison officials. She was taken to the prison’s dispensary but quickly returned to the ward after a brief examination.
Reports on October 27, 2020, indicated that Mirzaii, the deputy warden of Qarchak Prison, and Asgari, head of the prison’s workshop, had collected signatures on a letter from 13 ordinary prisoners against women political prisoners and specifically against Zahra Safaei.
The letter indicated that political prisoners, and especially Zahra Safaei, had spoken about political matters and against the state when they went to the workshop.
The Warden of Qarchak Prison subsequently prevented political prisoners from going to the workshop based on this letter and closed the door on them.
In reaction to this measure, political prisoners in Qarchak chanted “death to the dictator” and banged on the door to express their vehement protest.
After this incident, women political prisoners spoke to the prisoners who had signed the letter. It turned out that 10 of the signatories were new arrivals and had not read the letter before signing. Three others apologized from Zahra Safaei and other political prisoners. They said they did so under the pressure of prison authorities.
The day after this incident, the 58-year-old Zahra Safaei suffers heart stroke due to the harassment and mistreatment of prisoner authorities in Qarchak.
Born in 1962, Zahra Safaei is the daughter of a renowned merchants of Tehran Bazaar, Hassan Ali Safaei. He was a political prisoner under the Shah and was executed by the clerical regime in summer 1981.
Zahra Safaei is currently imprisoned along with her daughter, Parastoo Mo’ini, in Qarchak Prison and their lives are in danger. They were arrested in March 2020 and were tortured in Ward 209 of Evin for several months.
