Women’s Rights Activist Contracts Covid-19 in Prison

Women’s rights activist Saba Kord Afshari has tested positive for coronavirus and has been transferred to the quarantine ward of Qarchak Prison. She had developed symptoms of Covid-19, including fever, chest pain and a dry cough, six days earlier.

In the past week a number of prisoners in Cell Block Six of the notorious women’s penitentiary have presented with Covid-19 symptoms. The outbreak of the virus in the prison has been blamed on poor management and the direct transfer of new prisoners onto the wards without screening and quarantine, due to a lack of space.

In January Kord Afshari was reportedly beaten by guards and transferred to Cell Block Six, a wing meant for ordinary criminals, after she was told that she did not deserve to be with other female dissidents.

Kord Afshari was born in 1998 and was arrested in June 2019 in Tehran for taking part in the White Wednesdays campaign, in which women wore white in protest against mandatory veiling, and for going out without a hijab.

In September 201, she was tried in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran on charges of "spreading corruption and prostitution through the revealing of hijab and walking without hijab", "propaganda against the regime" and "conspiracy against national security." She was sentenced to 24 years in prison, of which 15 years were enforceable.

In February 2021 Kord Afshari’s sentence was amended by Branch 36 of the Provincial Court of Appeals and reduced to seven years and six months. Her mother Raheleh Ahmadi, who supported her daughter's activities, was also sentenced to 31 months in prison.

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