Maryam Gorji, a resident of Karaj and one of those detained during Iran’s nationwide protests of 2022, has been sentenced to five years of imprisonment and fined 300 million rials, despite an official ruling stating that she is medically unfit to endure incarceration.
The verdict, recently communicated to her, constitutes a stark example of the Iranian judiciary’s disregard for medical warnings and its systematic neglect of political prisoners’ right to life and access to healthcare.
Critical Medical Condition: Imprisonment Contrary to Doctors’ Orders
Maryam Gorji has a history of major intestinal surgery, during which part of her bowel was replaced with an artificial substitute. She suffers from severe and persistent abdominal pain and, according to medical assessments, requires a specialized diet and continuous medical care, conditions that are effectively impossible to provide in prison. Continued detention poses a serious and immediate threat to her health.
Reports indicate that the intensity of her physical suffering has been so severe that it has caused significant psychological distress among other inmates in the women’s ward of Evin Prison.
Liver Disease and Ignored Medical Warnings
In addition to acute gastrointestinal complications, Maryam Gorji suffers from a serious liver disease. Physicians have explicitly warned that keeping her in prison without access to specialized treatment outside the prison system could pose a direct threat to her life. Nevertheless, these medical warnings have been met with complete indifference, and no effective measures have been taken to transfer her to specialized medical facilities.
This is despite the fact that an official ruling of “incapacity to endure punishment” had already been issued in her case, a determination that, under existing laws and procedures, should have led to the suspension of her prison sentence and enabled her to receive treatment outside prison. Instead, judicial authorities have not only refused to enforce this ruling but have also imposed an exorbitant bail of 50 billion rials, effectively blocking any possibility of temporary release and medical treatment.
Systematic Denial of Medical Care in Evin Prison
Reports from the women’s ward of Evin Prison point to a deeply troubling state of healthcare and hygiene. Chronic shortages of doctors, medication, and access to specialized medical services have become a structural problem. Throughout her detention, Maryam Gorji has been deprived of essential medical care, with no effective treatment plan implemented to manage her serious conditions, a situation for which judicial and security institutions bear direct responsibility.
