Farangis Mazloumi, mother of political prisoner Soheil Arabi, sent a message to her fellow compatriots on Tuesday, March 13, 2018, only a week ahead of the Persian New Year.
She called on parents of political prisoners to gather outside the Greater Tehran’s Prison in Fashafouyeh for the New Year rituals. Ms. Mazloumi wrote in part:
In protest to the beating and transfer of Golrokh Iraee and Atena (Daemi), Soheil went on hunger strike and demanded that the two women be returned to Evin Prison. Soheil was subsequently brutalized and banished to the Greater Tehran’s Prison. He has been beaten repeatedly to compel him to break his hunger strike. But he has continued with his hunger strike.
Today, I went to the prison to visit my son, but they prevented our visit. They said I cannot visit him because he has been transferred to another ward.
They broke my heart and my heart broke into one thousand pieces.
Now, I am addressing you, my dear compatriots, particularly the fathers and mothers of political prisoners. The New Year is coming. Let us take our Haft-Seen arrangements to the front of the Greater Tehran Prison and in this way let our children know that we are standing by them. We will never forget them. Our children are imprisoned for freedom. They want freedom so that all the people can live together in peace and friendship.