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Political Prisoner In Iran Threatens Disobedience If Warden Not Removed


Farhad Maysami, anti hijab activist jailed since mid-2018 who suffers from poor health in prison. File photo
Farhad Maysami, anti hijab activist jailed since mid-2018 who suffers from poor health in prison. File photo

In a letter to the Islamic Republic head of the judiciary, political prisoner Farhad Maysami, has protested against the appointment of a new warden for Tehran's notorious prison, Evin.

Explicitly accusing the newly appointed warden of "violating prisoners' rights" in an "unprecedented manner," Maysami has called upon Ebrahim Raeesi (Raeisi) to dismiss Gholamreza Ziyaee.

The new warden Ziyaee is an "oxymoron" Maysami has argued, adding that one session with him is enough to see he is "absolutely unqualified" for his position and lacks the attributes needed for running a prison.

Maysami (Meysami), an anti-compulsory hijab activist, has gone further, calling for the dismissal of the director of the Islamic Republic's prisons, Asghar Jahangir.

"If Jahangir is not dismissed, we the powerless people will resist and disregard all his orders by civil disobedience, and practically bring him down," Maysami has warned in his letter, dated October 16.

A physician, publisher, and civil rights activist, Farhad Maysami, 48, was arrested on July 31 according to his mother.

In an exclusive interview with Radio Farda at the time of his arrest, Mr. Maysami's mother, Seddiqeh Pishnamaz, said that the only reason her son was arrested is owning lapel pins which read "I protest compulsory hijab."

Meanwhile, Mysami's attorney, Mohammad Moqimi, said his client's health is in "horrifying" condition, with high blood pressure, and his weight has dropped to 57 kg (roughly 125 pounds).

Later, an Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Mayasami to five years for "assembly and collusion intended for actions against national security."

Along with another political prisoner, Mohammad Habibi, Maysami wrote a public letter last week to declare that in protest to more limitations imposed on the inmates, they would ignore Evin's rules and regulations.

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