ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A German-Iranian dual national has been sent back to prison after being granted medical furlough four months ago, her daughter said on Sunday.
“Despite not completing medical treatment but with her head held high, my mother Nahid Taghavi was forced to go back to Evin Prison on Sunday 13th November,” her daughter, Mariam Claren tweeted.
The 67-year-old Nahid Taghavi was initially arrested in Iran on October 2020 for her work on supporting and encouraging women’s empowerment and free speech in the country. Since her arrest, Taghavi has suffered several health issues and her calls for medical treatment have frequently gone unanswered or have been purposely delayed by medical officers.
"I call on Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and the Federal Republic of Germany to put an end to the suffering of my 66-year-old mother and to ensure that my mother is granted her basic human rights,” Claren stated in an appeal to Germany’s foreign minister. She added “enough is enough. My mother is forced to sleep on the floor without a mattress or pillow and also to eat while sitting on the floor.”
“As a result of her long solitary confinement, the German citizen has been suffering from severe neck pain and herniated discs for months. She cannot open and close the fingers of her left hand,” reported International Society for Human Rights (ISHR), a human rights organization in Germany.
Amnesty International has previously stated that Nahid Taghavi “is a prisoner of conscience and must be immediately and unconditionally released.”
Tens of thousands of political prisoners are jailed in Iran over various charges including advocating for democracy and promoting the rights of women, workers, and ethnic minorities.
Iran has been engulfed in turmoil for the past eight weeks since the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini while in the custody of Tehran’s morality police on September 16, igniting an unprecedented nationwide protest movement that has brought Iranians from all corners together to call for the overthrow of the Islamic regime.
Tehran has accused regional and international rivals, such as Washington and Riyadh, of promoting the current unrest in Iran through expressing solidarity with the protesters and their media coverage of the demonstrations.
The Iranian authorities have violently cracked down on protesters, raising the death toll to at least 326 people killed, including 43 children according to Oslo-based Iran Human Rights.
By Zheen Saman
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