Fakhrosadat Mohtashamipour and Fatemeh Maleki, wives of Iranian political prisoners Mostafa Tajzadeh and Mohammad Nourizad wrote to a number of prominent clerical figures condemning the treatment of their husbands by the Islamic Republic and called on the sources of emulation to demand justice for these prisoners.
Kaleme website reports that Mohtashamipour and Maleki write that the so-called “sedition” which the establishment consistently accuses the opposition of is “a lie and deceit which God has charged with revealing.”
They maintain that they have appealed for the support of the clergy to overcome the “extreme oppression” they have been subjected to in the name of Islam and add that on Ashura Day, “power mongers” reacted to thier appeal to the clergy by attacking and arresting them on Ashura Day.
On December 16, Maleki and her family together with Mohtashampour were arrested in front of Evin Prison.
Mohammad Nourizad, jailed journalist and filmmaker who has gone on a hunger strike to protest his inappropriate treatment in court and prison, has been in critical health. Along with Mostafa Tajzadeh, an executed member of the reformist party, Islamic Iran Participation Front, Nourizad has been denied any visits in prison.
The brief arrest of Mohtashamipour and Maleki along with the Nourizad’s children, parents and brother, led to Maleki’s hospitalization for several days.
Maleki and Mohtashamipour had travelled to Qom the day before their arrest to enlist the support of the clergy for the release of their husbands. Their appeal was condemned by the state-backed newspaper, Keyhan, which is under direct supervision of the Supreme Leader.
Keyhan wrote that the meeting of the families of political prisoners with the clergy is “drawing the sources of emulation into the enemy’s game” and added that some senior members of the clergy are “in effect assisting the enemy.”
Mohtashamipour and Maleki write that they will not be silenced and refuse to remain behind a “heavy curtain of deceit under the guise of security.”
Evoking the support of the clergy, the wives of the political prisoners maintain that they will not be swayed by “threats, intimidation and abuse” in their demand for justice.
Several senior members of Iranian clergy have spoken out in support of the post-election political prisoners and criticized the government for their violent treatment of protesters of the disputed 2009 presidential elections.
