Jailed Journalist: "Don't Wait for Me!"

Jailed Tahereh Riahi, who reportedly suffered serious damage to her left eye while in Evin Prison, has been isolated in the prison and denied access to a lawyer. 

According the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, on February 13, Riahi had a brief phone call with the family lasting “a few seconds.” The source said Riahi was very distressed during the phone call, and was crying. She reportedly told her family, “Don’t wait for me.”  

Riahi’s family has not heard from her since, the source said. “Unfortunately, she is not allowed to use the phone or to have visits, not even from her lawyer.”

Riahi was arrested on December 27, 2016. A source told IranWire that the cornea of Riahi’s left eye has been damaged during her stay in Ward 209, which is run by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry and is reserved mainly for political prisoners. According to IranWire’s source, Riahi’s condition could be the reason why the ministry refuses to release her on bail, as it may fear bad publicity.

Riahi also suffers from asthma, but officials of Ward 209 apparently refuse to let her take medication.

Tahereh Riahi is the social affairs editor of Borna News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Ministry of Sport. In the past, she has also worked for well-known reformist newspaper Shargh. After her arrest in December, Riahi was charged with “propaganda against the regime,” “spreading lies” and “connections with the enemy media”, although no specifics about the charges against her have been formally released or published.

“The authorities are saying that no one can visit Tahereh because she’s under interrogation, but this uncertainty is very distressing,” said the Campaign for Human Rights source. “The family has no idea why Tahereh is being held. Why is there no end to the interrogations, or when her case is going to trial? Her family are following up on her case every day. If she’s not going to be released, they want to be arrested, too. When she was first taken into custody, we were told by the authorities that she would be released in two or three days, but it’s now been close to two months.”