Amol Prison authorities do not hand over the books sent to a death row prisoner in the women’s ward
A prisoner named Sahar F. was tied to the bed in the dispensary of Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad for 24 hours, along with her 12-year-old daughter, Tina Gh. Their hands and feet were cuffed to the bed.
Human rights networks say Sahar and Tina were tied to the bed for arguing with agents of the women’s ward of Vakilabad Prison (the Central Prison of Mashhad) on Wednesday, August 3, 2022. On the order of prison authorities, they were tied to the bed for 24 hours as punishment.
The mother and daughter were returned to the women’s ward of Vakilabad Prison on the evening of August 4.
Security forces arrested the 12-year-old girl only because she was with her mother when she argued with the regime’s agents. Now, she is imprisoned in Vakilabad Prison.
Sahar F. was arrested on July 18, 2022, along with her daughter, Tina Gh., in the travelers’ terminal in Mashhad because she argued with the bus driver and agents of the police station. She was taken to the Detective Police Station, where they were detained for several days. Then they were transferred to Vakilabad Prison.
Sahar F. is charged with “confronting government agents” and “insulting the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Prison guards harassed Sahar F. in the dispensary. Maryam Haj Khazimeh was the prison guard, and the doctor on shift was Monireh Sahebkar. Zahra Rahmani, the head of the dispensary, did not take any action to rectify such inhuman treatment.
Vakilabad Prison guards Maryam Haj Khazimeh, Yalda Sani, and Fariba Hatampour insult, maltreat, and brutalize the prisoners.
Female prisoners are detained in deplorable conditions in the women’s ward of Vakilabad Prison. In the final days of July, Azam Pakdel died of stomach cancer in the women’s ward of Vakilabad Prison due to denial of medical treatment.
Female prisoners deprived of having books and newspapers
The authorities of the Prison of Amol have prevented the delivery of books to one of the death row prisoners in the women’s ward in this prison.
This is a common practice in Amol Prison. Former political prisoner Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee who spent part of her prison time in Amol Prison published a post on her account. She wrote: The authorities in the Prison of Amol prevented the delivery of 10 volumes of books, including novels and psychology books, to a death row prisoner in the women’s ward in this prison. The guards in Amol Prison have a long record in harassment of female prisoners.”
Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee added, “The head of Amol Prison, after one week, said the books were illegal. When prisoners followed up, the official in charge of cultural affairs in Amol Prison said after three weeks that they had studied the books and ‘they are not compatible with the culture here.’ ”
All the books had official publication licenses from the clerical regime’s Guidance Ministry.
Former political prisoner, Golrokh Iraee, criticized the Amol prison authorities’ illegal approach in violation of the prison laws, especially in the case of a woman on death row. She explained:
Shakeri is in charge of the cultural affairs in the Prison of Amol. She insulted the inmates and upset their calm in the presence of Mohajeri, the deputy Prosecutor of Amol, the judge dispatched to the ward, and two guards in the women’s ward. The tension was due to their failure to hand over the books sent to the women’s ward.
The death row woman has one month to follow up on her case and receive the consent of the victim’s parents.
In the argument over why they refrained from handing the books to her, Shakeri threatened the woman. She said she would halt the proceedings on her case and the efforts to persuade the victim’s parents to forgive her.
Shakeri told her, “The Prosecutor, his deputy, and the head of the prison will soon be dismissed. Then, you only have me to obtain (the parents’ consent).”
Some 50 inmates are detained in the women’s ward of Amol Prison. They are distraught after Massoumeh Zareii was executed in this prison, and there is news of the imminent execution of another of their cellmates.
