Kurdish journalist Nazila Maroufian has been denied release on bail and access to proper medical care at Qarchak prison in Tehran although she had suffered two mild heart attacks in the jail.
Judicial authorities have refused to release the journalist, who has suffered from two mild heart attacks, on bail after initial interrogations, Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned.
Maroufian, 23, who comes from the city of Saqqez in Kurdistan province, was arrested by security forces in Tehran on 30 October.
A source that spoke to KHRN said that the young woman was arrested on the orders of the Security Prosecutor’s Office located in Evin Prison for publishing interviews with Mahsa Zhina Amini’s father on the website of Rouydad 24 News Agency in October and November 2022.
According to this source, security interrogators in Evin Prison pressured and threatened her to obtain forced confessions.
The source said: “Due to these extreme pressures, she suffered two mild heart attacks. She was sent to the Mofatteh Hospital in the city of Ray [in Tehran province] but was returned to prison before completing her treatment. Also, her family has been threatened by the security agencies that they should not speak to the media about their child under any circumstances, otherwise, they would make the situation more difficult for Nazila.”
The source added: “Wednesday, 4 January, was set as the date to try Nazila for one of her cases, but due to her poor physical condition, she could not appear at the court session and prison officials refused to send her to the court. Despite her dire physical condition and despite the completion of initial interrogations and investigations, and contrary to the usual practice of the Iranian courts, judicial authorities refused to convert her temporary detention into bail. The Kurdish journalist continues to be held in harsh conditions in prison without access to proper medical care.”
After 66 days of Maroufian’s arrest, two separate cases have been filed against her, one of which has been referred to Branch 26 of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Tehran and the other to Branch 1024 of Tehran Criminal Court 2, sources told KHRN.
KHRN also spoke to Maroufian’s lawyer Mohammad Saleh Nikbakht. The lawyer said that he had presented himself to the court as Maroufian’s lawyer on 4 January and that he would provide details on the case after he studies it.
