Death of Political Prisoner Somayeh Rashidi, 42, After Ten Days in a Coma
Somayeh Rashidi, a 42-year-old political prisoner suffering from epilepsy, died on Thursday, September 25, 2025, at Mofatteh Hospital in Varamin after ten days in a coma. She repeatedly suffered seizures in prison, but despite frequent visits to the infirmary, her condition was dismissed as “faking illness.” On September 15, after several severe seizures and loss of consciousness, she was finally transferred to hospital with her level of consciousness measured at 5. She never regained consciousness. During her hospitalization, her family faced severe restrictions on visits and access to her medical care.
Arrest for Writing Protest Slogans in Javadieh
Somayeh Rashidi, a 42-year-old seamstress, was arrested on May 1, 2025, in the Javadieh neighborhood of Tehran while writing the slogan “The worker is awake, down with the Sheikh and the Shah.” During her arrest, she was severely beaten, and officers slammed her head against a wall. After 24 hours of interrogation in an undisclosed detention center, she was transferred on May 2 to the women’s ward of Evin Prison and later exiled to Qarchak Prison in Varamin. The official charge against her was “propaganda against the state,” a label increasingly used in recent years to silence peaceful dissent.
Protests in Qarchak and Evin Prisons to Honor Her Memory
The death of Somayeh Rashidi immediately triggered protests among prisoners. In Qarchak Prison, women inmates gathered and chanted slogans such as “Death to Khamenei,” “Death to the dictator,” and “Somayeh is awake, she too has become a martyr.” The protest continued with resistance songs, including Zadeh Sholeh bar Chaman (“The Flame Has Risen in the Field”), turning the women’s ward into a scene of collective defiance.
In Evin Prison, male political prisoners in Ward 7 gathered in the yard at 6:30 p.m., singing the national song Ey Iran and chanting “We stand until the end.” The protest lasted until midnight, with prisoners refusing to return to their wards in defiance of authorities’ disregard for prisoners’ lives.
Basij Student Agency Publishes Video to Cover Up the Crime
On September 25, the so-called Student News Agency, affiliated with the Basij militia of Ali Khamenei, released a video of Somayeh Rashidi chanting “Death to Khamenei, hail to Maryam Rajavi.” The outlet attempted to use the clip to overshadow her beating, denial of medical treatment, and the circumstances that led to her death. In an act of blatant distortion, it further sought to equate her with alleged “collaboration with the Zionist regime during the 12-day war.”
Qarchak: A Prison That Breeds Illness
Qarchak Prison in Varamin has long been known as one of the most notorious women’s prisons in Iran. Overcrowding, lack of hygiene, shortage of medicine, and the violent conduct of officials have made it an inhumane environment. Like many others, Somayeh Rashidi was held in these conditions, where even healthy inmates soon suffer from skin, respiratory, and gastrointestinal diseases.
