Iran sends top rights defender, journalist back to prison

PARIS: Iranian authorities on Tuesday sent leading rights defender Narges Mohammmadi and photojournalist Alieh Motalebzadeh back to prison after briefly allowing them out for medical reasons, family and activists said.

Iranian intelligence agents raided Mohammmadi’s house in Tehran to arrest both women for their return to jail, Mohammmadi’s husband Taghi Rahmani wrote on Twitter. Motalebzadeh, a photojournalist, is vice-president of the Press Freedom Defence Association.

The HRANA news agency said both had been transferred to Qarchak women’s prison, southeast of Tehran, where conditions are routinely condemned by activists. There is particular concern about the health of Mohammadi, who suffers from a heart condition.