After 15 years behind bars, Iranian political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared has been sentenced to an additional three years of imprisonment by the Semnan Province Criminal Court. The court convicted Maryam Akbari Monfared, a long-standing political prisoner and a relative of members of Iranian opposition the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), in a new case and sentenced her to three years of imprisonment.
According to the human rights organizations, Ms. Akbari Monfared, a 48-year-old mother of three, has been charged with “propaganda against the regime,” “collusion and conspiracy against national security,” and “insulting” the regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
In another case in September 2023, she was sentenced to two years of imprisonment and a fine of 150 million rials for “spreading falsehoods” on social media, while she was in prison.
In a statement in July of this year, dozens of women activists denounced the “fabrication of charges” against Maryam Akbari Monfared as “retribution by the judiciary” for her activism and demanded her “immediate and unconditional” release.
This political prisoner, who has nearly served all of her initial 15-year sentence, has been deprived of furlough rights and was exiled from Evin Prison in Tehran to Semnan Prison about three years ago. During these years, she has been unable to see her children and has not even been granted leave for medical treatment.
The Iranian regime is known for its harsh treatment of supporters of the PMOI and deprives them of all human rights. In another incident on November 25, the Iranian regime executed Ali Saber Motlagh, a supporter of the organization.
Ms. Akbari Monfared, who lost three brothers and a sister during the 1980s, including in the mass execution of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988, was arrested in 2009 and sentenced by the Revolutionary Court to 15 years in prison on charges such as “supporting the PMOI,” “enmity against god,” and “acting against national security.”
Under the regime’s own laws, Maryam Akbari Monfared was supposed to be released in 2019 after serving 10 years of her sentence. Her main “crime” was seeking justice for her siblings, who were murdered by the regime.
Several international organizations have criticized the conditions that the regime has imposed on this political prisoner and called for her release. In this regard, Amnesty International has described the “truth- and justice-seeking” as the “right of all survivors of the 1980s executions” and emphasized that Maryam Akbari Monfard must be “immediately and unconditionally” released.
Following Maryam Akbari Monfared’s complaint in 2016, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances recognized her sister and brother, Roghiyeh and Abdolreza Monfared, in the “list of enforced disappearances” and demanded an explanation from the Iranian government regarding their fate.
The regime continues to raise pressure on dissidents and political prisoners as it fears losing hold on power inside the country. Despite the regime’s wave of suppressive measures, protests continue across the country, and the ranks of PMOI Resistance Units continue to expand.
