Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a British-Australian woman who has been held in prison in Iran for almost 2 years on spying charges, has been moved to a notorious prison of Qarchak. Human rights groups and supporters have been protesting in her defense.
Ms. Moore-Gilbert was arrested in September 2018 at Tehran airport and handed a 10 year sentence. It is alleged that she was spying on the Iranian state for a foreign government.
The Qarchak prison in the Iranian desert is believed to be used for political prisoners and the most dangerous criminal offenders. It is alleged that she is being moved there after she comforted and communicated with other prisoners who had been brought into the Evin prison, where she was previously being held, in Tehran. Moore-Gilbert says she has been sleeping on the floor of her cell in the Evin prison for the past 2 years, she has also taken part in a series of hunger strikes in protest against her conviction and imprisonment.
Ms. Moore-Gilbert was formerly a lecturer in Middle East politics, and the Australian government has denied that she has been involved in any spying. They released a statement regarding her case stating:
"Dr Moore-Gilbert's case is one of the Australian government's highest priorities, including for our embassy officials in Tehran."
They claim that they have been doing all the can to secure her release, however a family friend of Ms. Moore-Gilbert has said the Australian government has not been particularly active or forceful in attempting to have her returned. She also said that the Australian government had left her without money, many prisoners are required to buy their own provisions in prison.
Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British woman also being held in Iran on spying charges, spoke of the notorious jail. He said:
"It's in the middle of the desert with no clean running water, very poor food with the bread and rice drugged, and gang-ridden, so you can wait months to get a bed. Qarchak jail is where common prisoners are held. It's overcrowded and some of them are dangerous."
In a letter from the prison, Ms Moore-Gilbert spoke of her conditions and her deteriorating physical and psychological situation, she also continued to proclaim her innocence:
"I am not a spy. I have never been a spy, and I have no interest to work for a spying organisation in any country. I think I am in the midst of a serious psychological problem."
There is also a great fear that CoVid-19 is spreading within the Iranian prison system, it is believed Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has already contracted the disease. Iran is one of the worst hit countries in the world. The supreme leader recently commented that his scientists believe as many as 20 million Iranians have already been infected.
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