Iranian Islamic writer and researcher, Sadiqa Wasmiqi, in a letter to the UN Fact-Finding Committee, stated that she was "brutally and violently" detained by security forces acting under orders from the Iranian leader for over 40 days due to removing her hijab, suffering from "imprisonment, torture, and hard labor." In her letter, she recounted her experience during her days of detention and urged the UN Fact-Finding Committee, the UN Human Rights Committee, the special rapporteur on human rights, and international human rights organizations to work to prevent the Iranian regime from perpetrating acts of repression, particularly against women.
This religious scholar viewed her and her colleagues' experiences in prison as evidence that many institutions, such as judicial and security bodies, use all means to pressure political prisoners and force them to surrender. She noted that she was ill and was transferred to interrogation places without the right to legal counsel, confirming that she was moved to prison from the third investigation branch of Evin Prosecutor's Office without due process.
Iranian security forces had arrested Wasmiqi on March 16 and transferred her to the women's ward at Evin Prison. In part of her letter, this political prisoner mentioned that prison authorities ignored her request for a support person and that she was deprived of family visits throughout her detention for refusing to wear a headscarf. Iran International reported on March 17 that Wasmiqi was not allowed to meet her family due to her refusal to wear the mandatory hijab and was denied her right to meet her husband on April 21.
Wasmiqi wrote to the UN Fact-Finding Committee about her physical condition in prison, stating that due to the stress they caused her, she experienced severe fluctuations in heart rate and blood pressure for three weeks, and was eventually sent to the hospital under guard, being in such critical condition that she lost consciousness during treatment.
She confirmed that after numerous follow-ups regarding her illness, she was transferred to Farabi Hospital, where a certificate declaring her unfit for prison was issued. In recent months, this imprisoned researcher had been a strong critic of Iran's mandatory hijab policy, labeling leader Ali Khamenei as a "dictator" and the ruling system as "repressive." In an audio file posted on her Instagram page, Wasmiqi criticized Khamenei's approach to the mandatory hijab, asserting that he has no right to impose his red line on women and fabricate charges against people.
