PEN is alarmed by reports of the deteriorating health and ill-treatment of prominent Iranian human rights activist and journalist Narges Mohammadi, who is currently serving a six-year prison sentence. She has recently been transferred to a distant prison facility and there are grave concerns for her well-being. PEN considers Mohammadi to be detained in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party, and calls for her immediate and unconditional release. Pending her release, PEN urges that Mohammadi is given all necessary medical attention as a matter of priority, and that she is allowed regular family visits.

Background Information

According to PEN’s information, Nargess Mohammadi’s health has deteriorated rapidly since her arrest on April 21, 2012. Relatives who visited her recently report that she is in a very serious condition, and that they could barely recognize her. They found her in a wheelchair, with visible bruising to her face and hands; she spoke with difficulty and was extremely weak. Mohammadi suffers from a debilitating wasting condition in her muscles, and as a result she has fallen on many occasions, once needing treatment in the prison hospital.
 
Nargess Mohammadi has recently been transferred from Evin Prison in Tehran, where her family and her young children live, to a small village jail in Zanjan, where she is held in overcrowded conditions.

An award-winning activist and journalist, Nargess Mohammadi, formerly the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), was arrested at her home on April 21, 2012, to serve a six-year prison sentence. She was sentenced on September 26, 2011, to 11 years in prison for “acting against the national security,” “membership of the DHRC,” and “propaganda against the regime” for her reporting on human rights violations, cooperation with Shirin Ebadi, and visiting political prisoners. She remained free on bail, but on March 4, 2012, an appeals court confirmed the conviction, reducing the sentence to six years.

Write A Letter

  • Expressing grave concern for the health and welfare of journalist Nargess Mohammadi and demanding that she is given all necessary medical attention as a matter of urgency;
  • Urging that she has full access to family visits;
  • Calling for her immediate and unconditional release on humanitarian grounds and in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory.

Send Your Letter To

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street
Qom
Islamic Republic of Iran

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran 1316814737
Islamic Republic of Iran

WITH COPIES TO...
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: (Via Foreign Ministry) +98 21 6 674 790
(mark: "Please forward to H.E. President Ahmadinejad")

Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for Iran in your country if possible.