Authorities in Kachouei Prison of Karaj took Kurdish woman writer and political prisoner Mozhgan Kavousi out of prison for several hours on 13 October and returned her to the prison.
After being taken back, the political prisoner said in a short phone call with her family that the transfer had taken place following a “wrong order” by the prosecutor.
On 6 October, Kavousi was transferred from Tehran’s Evin Prison to the detention centre of a police station in Karaj.
After three days of detention in harsh conditions, she was taken to Kachouei Prison in Karaj.
The Court of Appeals in northern Mazandaran province had previously ordered Kavousi’s transfer to a prison in northern Alborz province to serve the remainder of her sentence.
Also, on 13 July, the political prisoner was transferred from Evin Prison to Nowshahr, Mazandaran province, at her transfer request.
However, after spending the night in the detention centre of the Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran (NAJA) in Nowshahr, she was returned to Evin Prison due to a lack of coordination between authorities in Evin Prison and the judicial officials of Nowshahr.
On 21 July, Kavousi was sent on temporary leave after contracting the coronavirus in Evin Prison.
On 18 November 2019, the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) arrested Kavousi at her family home in Nowshahr. She was released on bail after spending a month in detention.
The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Nowshahr initially sentenced her to 69 months in prison, but the Court of Appeals of Mazandaran province increased the sentence to 76 and a half months.
In a post on her Instagram account on 6 March 2020, the political prisoner wrote: “The court rejected my objection and defence through my lawyer Mr Mostafa Nili and agreed with the claims made by the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Nowshahr regarding the ruling of the court of the first instance.”
Kavousi said her imprisonment sentence for “propaganda against the state” increased from six months to seven and a half months.
She added that her imprisonment sentence for “inciting people to disrupt public order” was increased from 30 months to 36 months.
The political prisoner further stated that the verdict on charges of “membership in anti-state groups” remained 33 months.
According to Article 134 – the Law on Consolidation of Sentences – the highest given sentence is enforceable, and accordingly, Kavousi’s sentence was increased from 33 months to 36 months of imprisonment.
The researcher was arrested on 19 May 2020 in Nowshahr to serve a three-year prison sentence and was sent to the city prison but was transferred to Tehran’s Evin Prison a few days later.
