23 March 2022 :
Sepideh Qoliyan is gravely ill and in need of urgent medical care
Two months after two political prisoners (Baktash Abtin and Adel Kiampour) died in Iranian state custody, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has sent a letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urging her to call for the immediate release of prisoner of conscience Sepideh Qoliyan, who is gravely ill and in need of urgent medical care.
Qoliyan, 27, is being unlawfully kept behind bars in Tehran’s Evin Prison for her peaceful dissent despite stipulations in Iranian law that allow for her release.
“The UN high commissioner should call for Sepideh Qoliyan’s immediate release before another prisoner of conscience is silenced forever in an Iranian prison,” said CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi.
Qoliyan is among a group of ailing political prisoners who are currently being denied proper medical treatment, including Soheila Hejab, Zeinab Jalalian, Arsham (Mahmoud) Rezaee, and Abbas Vahedian Shahroudi. Political prisoners in Iran are singled out for harsh treatment, which often includes denial of medical care, as a means to punish and silence dissent.
