Children of student activists deprived of visits rights

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

Fatemeh Adinehvand, wife of Abdollah Momeni, a prisoner of conscience and former Spokesperson for Tahkim-e Vahdat Student Organization, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that her children have now been deprived from visiting their father in person for eight months, and they are only allowed to see him through the glass. She added that she expects nothing of the authorities now.

“I wrote so many requests. When we go to the Prosecutor’s Office, or wherever else, to pursue matters, except for the soldier who is guarding the entrance, we never see anyone else, I mean we are not allowed to see or talk to anyone else. We can only put our requests into writing and deliver them to the soldier. We don’t know whether they are read or not. In my last letter to the Prosecutor, I asked him for the reason he does not allow me and my children to have in-person visits after eight months. They haven’t answered me,” Fatemeh Adinehvand told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran about her requests to visit her husband in person.

Asked about the reasons for the authorities’ refusal to give in-person visits to her family, Adinehvand said: “It’s probably because of the letters my husband has written, because our in-person visits ended right after the letters.” Abdollah momeni’s wife told the Campaign that her husband is in good physical conditions in prison. “But his mental state is not very good. People develop low morale in prison. At least it’s good that he is in the same ward as his friends,” she said.

“I took his warm clothing to prison in late October, and thank God the prison authorities gave him the clothes. But they are tough on other things; for example, several times I took him the poetry book of Hafez, or Sa’adi’s Golestan, which they did not accept. They only took a few English books I had taken him,” said Fatemeh Adinehvand.

Regarding what requests she has of the authorities, Abdollah Momeni’s wife said: “I have no requests, as they pay no attention to our requests. I don’t believe they would fix the Ward [209] telephone lines anytime soon, or give us in-person visits, either. What can I say?! My kids go to school and they can only visit their father through the glass once a month. They have cut off the phones, too. [When the telephone lines were in service,] at least they could hear their father’s voice. When the children face such conditions, what can we expect! I have no other expectations.”

Abdollah Momeni was arrested on the night of 20 June 2009, following the presidential election. After his interrogations were completed, he wrote a letter to the Supreme Leader, talking about being tortured by his interrogators.