Status: 16.10.2021 3:01 p.m.
A year ago, Nahid Taghavi from Cologne was arrested in Iran. Since then she has been imprisoned in Tehran’s women’s prison. Your daughter is demanding more decisive action from the federal government.
The past year was tough, says Mariam Claren on the phone. “I can’t put it into words.” The voice of the 42-year-old faltered for a moment. From Germany she has been following what happened to her mother, the 67-year-old pensioner Nahid Taghavi, in Iran for a year now.
She was arrested by security forces in her Tehran apartment on October 16, 2020, and there was no trace of her for days. The former architect has been commuting between Iran and her adopted home Germany for many years and, according to her family, never had any problems with the Islamic Republic’s security apparatus before her arrest. What she is accused of is unclear at the time.
Mother and daughter in a private photo.
Image: Mariam Claren
Nahid Taghavi is now sitting in the women’s wing of Tehran’s Evin Prison, which is known for holding political prisoners there. “It’s a constant up and down,” sighs Mariam Claren and talks about the summer when Corona broke out in prison and her mother was also infected. She was the only one who was not granted detention leave. The family believes that she is harassed because of her German passport. An operation on her back, which a doctor urgently advises, has not been granted to her for weeks.
Daughter cannot understand the verdict
A former inmate of Taghavis also reported harassment and even mistreatment. The 27-year-old Sepideh Qolian, political activist who campaigns for workers’ rights, among other things. In March 2021, she was transferred from Tehran’s Evin prison to the south of the country, to Bushehr. She also contracted Covid-19 there and was given a leave of absence.
During this time, Qolian reports of humiliating punishment rituals by the guards, prostitution of female prisoners and psychological torture of inmates. After her report appears on social media, the young woman is picked up by 30 armed security forces. Her stay has been unknown since then, reports her family, who speak of a kidnapping.
Nahid Taghavi’s family was also in shock in August when the verdict against the dual nationalist was passed: ten years in prison. “Because of membership in an illegal organization with the aim of endangering national security,” Mariam Claren quotes the court order. “What is that supposed to be? My mother doesn’t belong to any organization.” Another eight months come on top because of propaganda, a standard judgment for anti-Islamic behavior from the perspective of the Islamic Republic – photos without a headscarf are sufficient.
“We have seen for a year that nothing happens”
Mariam Claren sees her mother as a political hostage. It would not be the first time that a dual national is serving the Islamic Republic for prisoner exchange or other purposes. In January 2016, the Iranian-American journalist Jason Rezaian was released – after a year and a half imprisonment on absurd charges of espionage. On the day of his release, the US will release around $ 1.7 billion of frozen Iranian funds.
Mariam Claren is in regular contact with the Foreign Office, which rarely speaks about the case in public. The case was raised several times against the Iranian side, it is said from Berlin. “Apparently they are not getting any further with their quiet diplomacy,” says Claren annoyed. “We have seen for a year that nothing has happened. It is time to use your political leverage. My mother was in solitary confinement for seven months, had to endure umpteen interrogations and then contracted Corona. It’s enough . “
At the beginning of September, the mother was suddenly told by a guard that she could go on leave in a few days. The family put bail and took care of all formalities, but nothing has happened since.
Claren said she was last able to speak to her mother over the phone two days ago. The 67-year-old was unusually depressed and angry this time, reports severe back pain. “Why these games? Why these absurdities?” She asked. “I’m not a chessboard piece.”