23 days after her forcible exile, political prisoner Atena Daemi was transferred to the general ward of Lakan Prison of Rasht, the capital of northern Gilan Province, on April 8, 2021.
Ms. Daemi was detained longer than usual in the quarantine ward. This is while new arrivals are not quarantined before being sent to the wards.
Political prisoner Atena Daemi was abruptly banished to Lakan Prison of Rasht on Tuesday night, March 16, 2021. The forcible relocation of Atena Daemi took place on the eve of the Persian New Year on March 20.
Atena Daemi had not been informed in advance, and she was not allowed to pack her belongings or contact her family. Prison guards put cuffs on her hands and feet and removed her from the women’s ward of Evin Prison.
Atena Daemi was among the signatories of a letter protesting the forcible relocation and banishment of political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared to the Prison of Semnan.
The NCRI Women’s Committee strongly condemned the forcible relocation and banishment of political prisoners, including the banishment of Ms. Atena Daemi, and the regime’s brutal treatment of and inhuman pressure on female political prisoners.
Atena Daemi, 32, must have been released on July 4, 2020, after completing her 5-year prison term. But she was sentenced again to a total of 5 years of imprisonment and 74 lashes because of trumped-up charges filed against her by the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
A children’s rights activist, Atena Daemi was first arrested on October 21, 2014, and detained for 16 months for participating in a protest gathering outside the UN Office in Tehran, a protest execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari, and other peaceful activities.
On November 26, 2016, she was arrested again and taken to Evin Prison to serve her sentence. During this period, she started a 54-day hunger strike in March 2017 which ended successfully when the prison sentences for her two sisters were rescinded.
