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Iranian Dissident Told She Can't Have Full Back Surgery Recovery Prior to
Prison Term

Michael Lipin

   WASHINGTON - Iranian authorities have told a female dissident recently
   sentenced to more than three years in prison that she will get only two
   months to recover from a needed back surgery before having to start her
   jail term.

   An Iran-based source familiar with dissident ShahlaJahanbin'ssituation
   told VOA Persian in a Monday interview that Jahanbin went to Tehran's
   Evin prison last week to present authorities with a letter from the
   Iranian judiciary's Legal Medicine Office stating her need for back
   surgery.

   Jahanbin, who has been looking after her ailing mother in Tehran, has
   been suffering herself from several health problems including
   osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease affecting both her neck
   and shoulders.

   The source said Evin prison's enforcement office told Jahanbin that if
   she went ahead with a back surgery to treat her osteoarthritis, it
   would give her only two months to recover before requiring her to
   report to the jail to start serving her three-and-a-half year sentence.

   Jahanbin was one of [1]14 Iranian women to sign an August 9, 2019 open
   letterto Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei demanding that
   he resign. The signatories wrote:"We rise against this anti-woman
   regime that has wiped out our human values and demand a
   completedeparturefrom the Islamic Republic and drafting of a new
   Constitution for the establishment of a state in which women's dignity,
   identity and equal rights are recognized in all areas."

   Authorities detained Jahanbin on August 21, 2019 and later charged her
   and the other signatories of the [2]letterwith"propaganda against the
   state"and"assembly and collusion against national security."After
   releasing her on bail in November,Iranian judicial authorities
   [3]convicted her of both offenses and in [4]February imposed on her a
   finalthree-and-a-half yearprison term. Jahanbin has maintained her
   innocence.

   The source who spoke to VOA said Jahanbin would need more than the
   allotted two months to recover from a back surgery. The source did not
   indicate whether Jahanbin would go ahead with the procedure and it was
   not clear when she would have to start serving her prison sentence if
   she did not proceed.

   Jahanbin is married to Abbas Vahedian Shahroudi,'Ża prominent civil
   rights activist and authorwhom authorities arrested in his hometown of
   Mashhad on August 18, 2019, after he joined13 other activists in
   signing aJune 2019open letter that also called for Khamenei's
   resignation.

   Another informed source in Iran told VOA Persian last week
   thatShahroudi'sfamily hadlearned that thedetainedactivistalso has
   beensufferingfrom multiple health problemsafter spending nine
   monthsinMashhad's Vakilabadprison. Those problems include a lung
   infection and an allergic condition.

References

   1. https://iranhumanrights.org/2019/10/14-women-activists-to-be-prosecuted-for-demanding-supreme-leaders-resignation/
   2. https://ir.voanews.com/a/iran-women-activist/5052622.html
   3. https://ipa.united4iran.org/en/prisoner/5161/
   4. https://www.radiofarda.com/a/30428932.html

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