Maryam Akbari Monfared, one of the longest-serving female political prisoners in Iran, has been in prison for 15 years without a single day of leave. Her sentence was completed on October 11, 2023, in Semnan prison, but with the enforcement of an additional two-year prison sentence from a case opened against her while in prison, she will remain incarcerated.
Over the years, several cases were opened against Akbari Monfared, which were dismissed with acquittals. However, the latest case, without presenting evidence, resulted in a two-year prison sentence.
Akbari Monfared’s 15-year sentence ended in October, but she has been sentenced to an additional two years due to another case. Additionally, the “Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order” organization, affiliated with the Iranian regime, has requested the seizure and confiscation of her family’s assets.
This new case has been referred to Branch 6 of the Revolutionary Court, which handles cases related to Article 49 of the Constitution, and a review hearing was scheduled for August.
For the past 46 years, the Islamic Revolutionary Courts have used this article to confiscate the assets of many citizens, political prisoners, Baha’is, and other dissidents in non-transparent processes.
Maryam Akbari Monfared was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for “acting against national security.”
The Iranian regime executed three of her brothers and one sister in the 1980s for “membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).” The PMOI is the largest opposition group to the Iranian regime, which in 1988 saw 30,000 of its members and supporters executed by the regime.
Akbari Monfared has three daughters and is one of the oldest female political prisoners in Iran.
In January 2020, after enduring years of imprisonment in Rajai Shahr Prison (Karaj), Qarchak Varamin Prison, and Evin Prison, she was exiled to Semnan Prison.
She is held in the general ward of Semnan Prison without adherence to the principle of separation of crimes and in poor sanitary conditions.
In July 2023, a group of female political prisoners and Akbari Monfared’s former cellmates protested against the fabrications of charges against her in a published letter, calling this process “the judiciary’s revenge for her pursuit of justice.” They demanded her immediate and unconditional release.
Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have repeatedly objected to Akbari Monfared’s continued imprisonment without a single day of leave and her denial of medical services.
