Seven Political Prisoners Given Short Furlough; Hundreds More Remain in Prison

Seven prisoners in Evin Prison’s Ward 350 were allowed short furlough on 16 July on for the observance of a religious holiday. The prisoners were: Bahareh Hedayat; Mahdieh Golroo; Behzad Nabavi; Mohsen Mirdamadi; Feizollah Arabsorkhi; Abdollah Ramezanzadeh; Javad Emam; and Massoud Lavasani. No other political prisoners were allowed furlough from Rajaee Shahr Prison or prisons in other cities, however. Presently hundreds of political prisoners are inside Evin Prison.

Also on 16 July, Maryam Majd, a photojournalist arrested on 20 June, was released on bail until her court date. Majd was arrested one day before she was scheduled to take a trip to Germany to cover the Women’s World Cup.

A large group of Iranian political prisoners who were arrested following the 2009 presidential election have not been allowed even a single day of leave since their arrest.  Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, a blogger who is in critical health inside Evin Prison, Ahmad Zeidabadi, Massoud Bastani, Bahman Ahmadi Amouee, Fatemeh Rahnama, Zia Nabavi, Abdollah Momeni, and numerous other prisoners, some of whom have critical health conditions and have been recommended medical leaves by prison doctors, all remain in prison.

Since the arrests began in the aftermath of the 2009 election, family members of political prisoners that have requested leave for their imprisoned kin have been met with silence from Tehran’s Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi.