Islamic regime authorities have ordered that political activist Rezvaneh Ahmad Khanbeigi and her two-year-old daughter be taken to Evin Prison on Monday to serve the remainder of the mother’s sentence, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, the official news wire for Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI).
The young mother reportedly confirmed the summons in a statement to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, where she expressed her fears that incarceration would affect the health and development of her daughter Mehfar Lalehzari.
Khanbeigi was ordered to return to the prison, known for mass human rights violations, after being given leave from her sentence to give birth to Lalehzari.
International media, including BBC Persian, reported that she was denied proper medical attention in the late months of her pregnancy while being held in Evin, despite the mother suffering from epilepsy and medical recommendations for a cesarean section.
Activist and husband charged with collusion, propaganda against Iran
Khanbeigi and her husband were arrested by security forces on September 18, 2023. After being transferred to Qarchak Varamin Prison, and later transferred to Evin, the couple was sentenced in January to 10 years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion against internal security” and “propaganda against the regime.” An appeal saw the sentence reduced to 20 months, with Khanbeigi receiving a short suspension to give birth.
The Tehran-based Evin prison is known for its abuse of detainees, who are often held following unfair legal proceedings, according to numerous investigations by major human rights groups like Amnesty International. Amnesty’s 2020 report, “Trampling Humanity,” found prisoners were subjected to beatings, electric shock, and sexual humiliation, with no meaningful oversight of interrogators.
Marziyeh Amirizadeh, an Iranian convert to Christianity spared the death sentence after international intervention, previously described to The Jerusalem Post the brutal treatment of political prisoners in the prison. She described prisoners being sexually abused, tortured and given food that would make them sick.