Zeynab Jalalian, Iran’s longest-serving and only female political prisoner serving a life sentence, is nearing her 19th year in detention amid renewed concerns that officials at Yazd Central Prison and security agencies are obstructing her access to essential medical treatment.
A source familiar with the situation spoke the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) and said: “In late September this year, and following international pressure, this political prisoner – who had for months been suffering from a uterine fibroid – underwent a fibroid embolisation procedure at a medical facility outside Yazd Prison. During the surgery she was chained to the hospital bed by an ankle shackle, and she was returned to prison just 24 hours later without completing the necessary post-operative care.”
According to the source, despite undergoing the embolisation, her bleeding and abdominal pain have persisted at an alarming level, and she is also struggling with severe anaemia.
Both the specialist who performed the procedure and the prison infirmary doctors have called for her urgent transfer to medical centres outside the prison for an ultrasound and MRI scan to assess her condition, the source said, adding that prison officials blocked the transfer, claiming that the surgeon’s prescription required for the ultrasound had been “lost”.
On 16 September, 22 human rights organisations and 13 human rights defenders, in a joint statement coordinated by REDRESS and KHRN, urged immediate access to medical treatment for Jalalian and called for an end to the harassment and threats against her. They also demanded her unconditional release.
At the same time, Jalalian published a letter describing her years of imprisonment, torture, and deprivation of family visits and medical treatment. She wrote: “After nearly 20 years in a place like this, you are forced into a collective way of living. Diseases, skin conditions, mental and psychological issues come for you. Worst of all, the poor prison diet leads to a wide range of physical illnesses. And as a political prisoner, you are subject to even more restrictions. Even when a doctor diagnoses you and confirms you need medication, you receive no treatment.”
She added: “Despite the medical diagnosis clearly stating that I should be released due to my condition and undergo surgery, the prison authorities forwarded the report to the Legal Medicine Organisation. After a long wait, they responded by saying I am ‘fit to remain in prison’. Despite all this pain, suffering and illness, I am happy, because I have endured all of it in the pursuit of freedom. That means I stand on the right side of history.”
Earlier, on 1 May, nine United Nations Special Rapporteurs voiced serious concern over Jalalian’s prolonged and arbitrary detention, deteriorating health, and reports of torture and other forms of mistreatment. They urged the Iranian authorities to ensure her immediate and unconditional access to adequate medical care in an independent civilian hospital, warning that “time is of the essence”.
In recent years, Jalalian has been denied the right to family visits, and due to multiple illnesses, the Legal Medicine Organisation of Yazd has stated that she is not fit to endure imprisonment. However, security agencies have conditioned her release on “expressing remorse and repentance”.
Born in 1982 in the village of Dim Qeshlaq in Maku, West Azerbaijan Province, Jalalian has been imprisoned since 26 February 2008 and has been denied the right to furlough and, for most of these years, the right to family visits.
Despite suffering from several serious illnesses during her imprisonment, Jalalian has been repeatedly transferred between different prisons under harsh and unlawful conditions, often with physical violence.
In 2008, Jalalian was sentenced to death on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh), which was commuted to life imprisonment in 2011.
Throughout her detention and imprisonment, she has been subjected to severe torture. Even after 17 years in prison, she continues to face immense pressure from Iran’s security agencies, and any approval for medical treatment or temporary leave is contingent on her expressing remorse for her actions.
Her lawyer, Amir-Salar Davoudi, has consistently argued that her continued imprisonment is illegal under the revised Islamic Penal Code and that she must be released.
