The security department of the Prison of Semnan has threatened and intimidated political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared.
Maryam Akbari Monfared sent a message from Semnan Prison to express her solidarity with the Iranian people’s protests against price hikes in various cities in May 2022. Her message was to “the protesters who cried out for water and bread.”
For this reason, on June 5, 2022, the officials of the Security Department of Semnan Prison told her that “if she makes friends or talks with other prisoners, they will file a political case against her.”
The Semnan Prison’s security department officials also threatened other prisoners to avoid contacting Ms. Akbari Monfared, thereby imposing further pressure on her and torturing her mentally.
Maryam Akbari Monfared is serving her 13th year in prison without a single day of leave. She remains in exile at Semnan Prison.
Solidarity with nationwide protests from Semnan Prison
The text of the message of political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared from Semnan Prison was published on May 13, 2022. In part of the message, she said:
For years we have been losing our lives for water and bread in a rich country like Iran! From freight carriers to fuel carriers, and now the entire nation. The earth and its heavens have been and are plundered.
The voice rising from Izeh, Shadegan, and Ahvaz is the voice of all of us. Soon, it will resonate throughout the country.
Together with the oppressed women who are my cellmates in Semnan Prison. Our main food was bread and cheese. But even that has become smaller due to the price hikes. We feel bitter for our people… At the same time, we are happy and encouraged to hear of the protests of our compatriots in Izeh and other cities in the south. Although they no longer have any bread on their tables, they have the honor and dignity to rise up from the blood of their loved ones.
From behind bars in Semnan Prison, hand in hand with these oppressed women and all of you who have no more bread and water, I cry out loud: We, the hungry, will get through all these sufferings. We will smile again. The future is ours!
Maryam Akbari Monfared – May 2022, Semnan Prison
