Officials of Qarchak Prison in Varamin neighbourhood of Tehran continue to deny Kurdish female activist Somayeh Kargar of her right to medical care and access to medicine.
Somayeh Kargar is a social activist and philosophy graduate who was transferred to Qarchak Prison in early February 2021 after four months of interrogation in Ward 2A of Tehran’s Evin Prison.
In an interview with the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), a relative of Kargar expressed concern about her health and said she was transferred from Ward 2A of Evin Prison to quarantine ward “while she was not in good health”, and was taken to Ward 8 of Qarchak Prison after several days.
According to the source, Kargar suffers from a rare disease that has severely reduced her vision and has been treated periodically by ophthalmologists in France for several years. She was scheduled to travel to France in November 2020 for further treatment, but was unable to do so due to her detention.
The source added that so far, her lawyer has neither been able to review Kargar’s case nor meet with her, adding that no information has yet been received about the charges against the activist.
Somayeh Kargar, a Kurdish social activist from Ilam and a graduate of philosophy from the University of Tabriz, was arrested on 16 October at her home in Tehran. Security agents also searched her house and confiscated her personal belongings, including her computer and cell phone.
Somayeh Kargar suffers from severe visual impairment due to a rare eye disease, such that she needs help to carry out her daily activities.
