LONDON – A woman imprisoned in Iran since 2009 has shared a letter from her “hellish” prison, according to reports on Monday.
Maryam Akbari Monfared, 47, a mother of three daughters, was arrested on charges of supporting the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran more than 13 years ago.
Her children have been separated from her since her arrest, and the regime has killed her three brothers and sister, according to the Independent.
“It has been 13 years since I was separated from my four-year-old Sarah and my two 12-year-old daughters on that winter midnight,” Monfared wrote in her letter.
“They took me to Evin prison without giving me a chance to say goodbye to my loved ones, and made the ridiculous promise that ‘you will return to your children in the morning.'”
“This is not a 4,000-page story, but the pure reality of a life under the domination of fascists who imposed it on us while we refused to give in. “On this side of the bars, in the dark desert of torture and oppression, there is nothing but vileness and brutality as far as the eye can see – even where the eye cannot see,” she added.
Amnesty International and the Iranian Center for Human Rights have repeatedly called for Monfared’s release, describing her as a “prisoner of conscience” being held in “cruel, unlawful, and inhumane” conditions on “baseless” charges.
Monfared also expressed solidarity with Iranian protesters currently demonstrating against the regime following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini at the hands of the regime’s “morality police” in her letter.
“To my brave daughters and sons on the streets… I say: if you are arrested, do not trust the interrogators one iota,” she wrote.
“To the grieving families … I say that I share in their grief too. I take their hands in mine and stand shoulder to shoulder with them for justice, stronger than ever.
“The news of every protest and uprising, and the sparks of this rebellious flame, fill the hearts of women whose only hope of freedom is to break these iron gates,” she added.
Source: Arab News
