Iran: Woman pressured to return to prison

Iran: Woman pressured to return to prison

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Judicial authorities in Iran have conditioned treatment of political prisoner Arash Sadeghi on his wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee's return to prison.

The Department of Implementation of Verdicts has sent a warning to Ms. Iraee's mother who provided the bail for her daughter's release from prison.

Prisoner of conscience, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, was freed on a 500-million-touman bail on January 3, 2017, after 72 days of hunger strike by her husband, Arash Sadeghi, and after domestic and worldwide public opinion pressure on the regime. Officials of the Prosecutor's Office, however, did not agree to extend her leave. According to Ms. Iraee, they have made her husband's freedom and treatment contingent on her return to prison.  

Ms. Iraee said that her mother and lawyer were contacted and told by the Prosecutor's Office on January 7, 2017, that she must return to prison. Also on the same day, when Ms. Iraee had referred to the Prosecutor's Office to follow up on the administrative work for the release of her husband, she was told that she ought to return to prison.

Arash Sadeghi has declared that he would resume his hunger strike if his wife is returned to prison.

Ms. Iraee has not reported in because she believes the Prosecutor's order is illegal. She pointed out, "When they have accepted that there has been a breach in my case, and when the prison's warden and the deputy prosecutor Mr. Hajiloo have formally told me that there has been a breach in my case, why should I be returned to prison?"

Ms. Iraee has been sentenced to six years in prison for writing an unpublished story which was discovered in the search of her residence when security forces broke in to arrest her husband, Arash Sadeghi. She is accused of disseminating anti-government propaganda and insulting the sanctities. Her verdict was implemented on October 24, 2016, when she was arrested and taken to the Evin Prison.