Zeinab Jalalian, the only female political prisoner in Iran sentenced to life imprisonment, has been incarcerated in various prisons across the country for over eighteen years without a single day of furlough. Despite pressure, torture, and serious illnesses, she continues to speak with a firm voice from within prison—a voice that is not only a testimony to personal suffering, but also a call for global solidarity against repression in Iran.
A Testimony of Being “Buried Alive” in Prison
In her most recent letter from Yazd Prison, Jalalian writes about the unbearable conditions faced by herself and thousands of other political prisoners: denial of medical treatment, pressure on families, double discrimination against female prisoners, and even deprivation of the most basic human rights such as visits and access to medicine. She describes these experiences as being “buried alive” behind the high walls of prison.
Yet, despite all this pressure, what makes her letter distinct is her refusal to surrender. Jalalian sees herself as standing “on the right side of history” and writes poetically: “They wanted to bury us, unaware that we were seeds, and we sprouted.”
Women’s Resistance in the Heart of Patriarchy
In her letter, Zeinab Jalalian highlights the compounded suffering of female prisoners: separation from family and children, deprivation of freedom, and the physical and psychological pressures that weigh more heavily on women, especially in a patriarchal society. She speaks of her own physical and mental illnesses, which, due to years of neglect by prison authorities, have reached dangerous levels. Yet she still considers hope and resistance her main weapons.
From Torture to an Unjust Trial
Jalalian was arrested in 2007 on the Kermanshah–Sanandaj road and transferred to the Intelligence detention center. During interrogations, she was subjected to severe physical and psychological torture, including lashings on the soles of her feet, threats of sexual assault, and a heavy blow to the head that left her unconscious.
In December 2008, the Kermanshah Revolutionary Court sentenced her to death without the presence of a defense lawyer. This sentence was upheld by the Court of Appeals and was only reduced to life imprisonment in 2011. Over the years, she has repeatedly been pressured to make forced confessions, but she has never surrendered.
A Call for Justice and Solidarity
Jalalian’s letter is not merely a personal account of prison suffering; it is a global call to end executions, gender discrimination, ethnic and religious discrimination, and arbitrary arrests in Iran. She warns that silence in the face of these crimes amounts to complicity with the oppressive regime.
