Update on the Situation of Maryam Haji Hosseini in Evin Prison

Hengaw: Thursday, May 30, 2024

Maryam Haji Hosseini, a young inventor and polymer engineer from Amir Kabir University who has been detained by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran for about five years, has been sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for spying for Israel and is currently serving her sentence in Evin Prison, Tehran.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Maryam Haji Hosseini, a 52-year-old resident of Tehran, remains imprisoned in Evin Prison, Tehran, without the right to furlough, nearly five years into her 10-year sentence. She was also denied access to a lawyer during her court proceedings.

Maryam Haji Hosseini, a member of the National Elites Foundation, recipient of the Innovation Award at the Khwarizmi International Festival, recipient of a gold medal at the Zagreb International Inventors Competition in Croatia, and CEO of Carbon Structure Co., was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence forces on a street in Tehran in September 2019.

According to a knowledgeable source, Ms. Haji Hosseini was in solitary confinement for six months, and her first phone contact with her family was four months after her arrest and lasted only three minutes. She spent a total of 412 days in solitary confinement cells of the Intelligence Service undergoing interrogation and was repeatedly threatened with execution during court sessions and interrogations.

The court hearing for Maryam Haji Hosseini's charges was held on Tuesday, April 22, 2020, in Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati. She was accused by the security institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran of corruption on earth and spying for Israel through cooperation with Mossad, and was ultimately sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment after two court sessions. This verdict was upheld by Branch 36 of the Tehran Provincial Appeals Court.