Tehran, Iran
Iran’s most prominent human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has been allowed to leave prison for 21 days to recover from surgery for suspected cancer, and her family criticised the decision as "too little, too late".
An Iranian prosecutor on Tuesday (Dec. 3) suspended Mohammadi's prison term for three weeks. However, her family and lawyers requested a three-month release.
She has now been allowed by the Iranian authorities to recover from an operation she had in November to remove part of a bone in her lower right leg, where doctors discovered a lesion suspected of being cancerous.
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Mohammadi has been left "unable to walk," her family told CNN, adding, "She is in an ambulance on her way home."
Moreover, she had to pay the ambulance fee, which was not subsidised by Iranian authorities.
The Narges Foundation, which is run by Mohammadi's family, stated, "After over a decade of imprisonment, Narges required specialized medical care in a safe, sanitary environment – a basic human right. As doctors have emphasized, a minimum of three months’ recovery is crucial for her healing.”
They further criticised the ruling as giving her insufficient time to recover.
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The activist has spent most of the past two decades as an inmate of Iran's Evin prison.
She has been accused of acting against national security and spreading propaganda against the state.
She is currently serving multiple sentences totaling more than 30 years.
Earlier in November, her family accused the Iranian regime of trying to bring about her "slow death" by depriving her of the surgery needed to confirm her cancer diagnosis.
(With inputs from agencies)