Maryam Akbari Monfared, a political prisoner held in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, continues to be denied access to specialized medical treatment despite multiple serious health conditions and strong recommendations from a team of medical professionals for urgent back and knee surgery.
Maryam Akbari Monfared, who suffers from hypothyroidism, has also recently developed liver complications. She experiences chronic pain in her back and knees, and in recent months has faced recurring episodes of numbness in her legs and sudden knee dysfunction. According to medical experts, these are alarming symptoms of neurological and spinal damage.
Five specialists, including a neurosurgeon, an orthopedic surgeon, and forensic doctors, have unanimously emphasized the immediate need for surgery. However, no action has been taken, and neither she nor her attorney has received a formal response to repeated medical requests.
Doctors have warned that further delays could result in severe nerve damage, loss of mobility, and urinary incontinence. While her medical file has once again been submitted to the Legal Medicine Organization of Iran, the authorities have yet to issue any directive or approval for surgery.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that Maryam Akbari Monfared is the only political prisoner held in Qarchak Prison, where she is being detained alongside inmates convicted of non-political offenses, in violation of the principle of separation of prisoners based on charges. This situation has raised serious concerns about her physical and psychological safety.
In addition, while ordinary inmates are allowed to meet with their attorneys without judicial approval, prison officials have made such meetings for Maryam contingent upon obtaining a judge’s signed authorization.
Maryam Akbari Monfared completed her 15-year prison term on October 11, 2021, after being exiled to Semnan Prison without receiving any furlough. However, due to a new case fabricated against her, she was transferred to Qarchak Prison on October 23, 2024, to serve an additional two-year sentence.
The charges in this second case include “spreading falsehoods” and “propaganda against the state”—accusations widely condemned by human rights organizations as tools to suppress freedom of expression in Iran.
In late June 2024, Maryam Akbari Monfared faced another legal case to confiscate her and her family’s assets. According to Shargh news agency, the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order Headquarters filed a complaint seeking the seizure of her property.
