In January, the regime’s judiciary, to prolong the incarceration of political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared beyond her initial 15-year sentence, orchestrated a series of contrived trials. These trials managed under the aegis of the Ministry of Intelligence in Semnan and Evin prisons, resulted in an additional three years added to her term, thus extending her total sentence to 18 years. Maryam Akbari Monfared is recognized as one of the longest-serving female political prisoners.
According to a June 23 report on the Shargh website, in a further malicious move by the Ministry of Intelligence and the Judiciary, the “Committee for Follow-up and Supervision of Cases Subject to Article 49 of the Constitution” has proposed the seizure of assets belonging to Maryam Akbari Monfared and her family. Concurrently, a fresh case has been launched against her by Branch 6 of the court.
Article 49 of the Constitution enforces the government to seize wealth acquired through illicit methods such as usury, bribery, embezzlement, theft, and other fraudulent practices, and return it to its rightful owner. If the owner is unidentified, the wealth is to be transferred to the public treasury. However, none of these allegations apply to Maryam Akbari and her family. Four members of her family, who were associated with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), were executed by this regime, sacrificing their lives for the freedom of Iran.
The oppressive and misogynistic regime of Velayat-e Faqih, after 15 years of imprisonment with no medical leave, and sending her to exile to Semnan prison, and an additional three years added to her sentence, now aims to seize the assets and home of Maryam Akbari’s family. These repressive rulings and harassments are a response to her decade-long quest for justice for her martyred siblings. The primary “offense” that the regime seeks to retaliate against is Maryam’s pursuit of justice for the execution of her sister and three brothers during the 1980s by the tyrannical mullahs’ regime.
Alireza Akbari was martyred under torture in September 1981, and Gholamreza Akbari was executed by a firing squad in 1985. Her sister, Roqayeh, and another brother, Abdolreza Akbari, were martyred in the 1988 massacre of political prisoners.
The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran vehemently condemns the Iranian Judiciary’s attempt to seize the assets of Maryam Akbari Monfared and her family and relatives. This action is grossly inhumane and infringes on all international laws and standards.
The NCRI Women’s Committee reiterates its call to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, and other human rights and women’s rights entities, to intervene immediately for the unconditional release of Maryam Akbari. This call also includes a demand to prevent the harassment of one of Iran’s longest-serving female political prisoners.
National Council of Resistance of Iran – Women’s Committee
24 June 2024
