Islamic Republic Refusing Urgent Medical Furlough for Political Prisoner Nahid Taghavi Despite Surgeon's Order
International Emergency Campaign, HR Activists Denounce IRI, Demand Taghavi's Immediate Release for Medical Treatment
Contact: Larry Everest (202) 935-1652
Kave Milani, Burn the Cage Campaign (English/Farsi)
Kave.Milani79@gmail.com
press@freeiranspoliticalprisonersnow.org
Twitter @IranPrisonEmerg
Interviews available
"Neurological surgeon confirms that #NahidTaghavi urgently requires back surgery – although bail has been deposited, she is not been released yet on medical furlough," Taghavi's daughter, Mariam Claren, reported in a tweet today. On September 21, Taghavi was examined by a neurologist at a hospital outside Evin Prison where she's confined who determined she urgently needs lumbar surgery, according to Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Taghavi is a 67-year-old German-Iranian citizen with multiple serious health problems including diabetes and hypertension, who contracted COVID 19 in July, and now suffers from severe back problems.
Taghavi's family has agreed to pay for her surgery outside of prison, and has already paid two billion Toumans (nearly $50,000) bail for a furlough, which the authorities have thus far refused to grant.
Nahid Taghavi has spent nearly a year in prison, including months in solitary confinement, and has been deemed a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. In August, after a "trial" without any semblance of due process, she was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison for "participation in managing an illegal group and propaganda against the regime," charges she denies.
In July 2019, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran expressed deep concern over the "arbitrary arrest, detention, ill-treatment and denial of appropriate medical treatment of dual and foreign nationals,” and Iran's practice of subjecting them to "sham trials, which have failed to meet basic fair trial standards, and convicted them of offences on the basis of fabricated evidence or, in some cases, no evidence at all..."
"What could the consequences be of ignoring the urgent order by medical experts for Taghavi's surgery? This wanton cruelty and deliberate neglect could severely impact Taghavi's life, perhaps even cost her her life," says Dolly Veale, spokesperson for the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners (IEC). "Her life is hanging in the balance and delay may mean disaster."
"Neurological surgeon confirms that #NahidTaghavi urgently requires back surgery – although bail has been deposited, she is not been released yet on medical furlough," Taghavi's daughter, Mariam Claren, reported in a tweet today. On September 21, Taghavi was examined by a neurologist at a hospital outside Evin Prison where she's confined who determined she urgently needs lumbar surgery, according to Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Taghavi is a 67-year-old German-Iranian citizen with multiple serious health problems including diabetes and hypertension, who contracted COVID 19 in July, and now suffers from severe back problems.
Taghavi's family has agreed to pay for her surgery outside of prison, and has already paid two billion Toumans (nearly $50,000) bail for a furlough, which the authorities have thus far refused to grant.
Nahid Taghavi has spent nearly a year in prison, including months in solitary confinement, and has been deemed a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. In August, after a "trial" without any semblance of due process, she was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison for "participation in managing an illegal group and propaganda against the regime," charges she denies.
In July 2019, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran expressed deep concern over the "arbitrary arrest, detention, ill-treatment and denial of appropriate medical treatment of dual and foreign nationals,” and Iran's practice of subjecting them to "sham trials, which have failed to meet basic fair trial standards, and convicted them of offences on the basis of fabricated evidence or, in some cases, no evidence at all..."
"What could the consequences be of ignoring the urgent order by medical experts for Taghavi's surgery? This wanton cruelty and deliberate neglect could severely impact Taghavi's life, perhaps even cost her her life," says Dolly Veale, spokesperson for the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners (IEC). "Her life is hanging in the balance and delay may mean disaster."
"I ask you to immediately and unconditionally release Nahid Taghavi as she is a prisoner of conscience detained solely in connection with her peacefully exercising her rights to freedom of expression and association," Prof. Azam Niroomand-Rad, Coordinator of an Amnesty International Group in Madison, Wisconsin said in a statement . "Pending her release, give her regular access to a lawyer of her choosing and family, as well as to any health care she needs, including medication and transfer to outside facilities for surgical treatment, and ensure that she is granted access to consular assistance from the German authorities." (see full statement here.)
"The International Emergency Campaign calls on all justice and freedom loving people to demand Nahid Taghavi’s immediate medical release," Veale states. "Contact German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas, or the German Consulate or Embassy nearest you and demand Germany take active responsibility for the health and safety of its dual citizen Nahid Taghavi. This means working for her immediate medical release without any further delays."
Contact Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeikoMaas
Email: poststelle@auswaertiges-amt.de
Phone: +49 (0) 3018 17-0
Fax: +49 (0) 3018 17-3402