Australian academic locked up in Iran accused of spying is moved from hellhole jail to a mystery location
An Australian academic who has spent two years locked up in notorious Iranian prisons on espionage charges has been moved to an unknown location.
Kylie Moore-Gilbert was arrested in Tehran in September 2018 after attending a conference and convicted of spying in a secret trial, despite a lack of public evidence.
The Melbourne University lecturer, who specialised in Islamic studies, had been behind bars in Qarchak prison while serving her ten-year sentence.
But on Saturday it was revealed Dr Moore-Gilbert, who was born in Bathurst, west of Sydney, and her belongings were shifted to a mystery location, The Guardian reported.
Kylie Moore-Gilbert was arrested in Tehran, the capital of Iran, in September 2018 after attending a conference
The University of Melbourne lecturer is believed to have been imprisoned in Iran since September 2018, and held in solitary confinement the entire time
The move was initiated just 11 days after she was transferred from Evin prison, along with 15 other detainees, where she was held in solitary confinement.
It comes as Iran battles with a deadly third wave of coronavirus infections, with almost 600 new cases and 300 deaths within 24 hours over the weekend.
Authorities at Qarchak, dubbed by human rights groups as the nation's most dangerous institution for women, have reportedly been trying to quash an outbreak among prisoners and guards.
While Dr Moore-Gilbert is believed to be in poor health and struggling to eat, some sources say the move is a positive step in her case.
The move was initiated just 11 days after she was transferred from Evin prison, along with 15 other detainees, where she was held in solitary confinement
Ms Moore-Gilbert was watched closely at Qarchak to ensure she couldn't contact the outside world
'Obviously one hopes the move might be good news for Kylie, but we don't know yet,' Elaine Pearson, Australia director of Human Rights Watch, said.
'Kylie has been detained for more than two years now, and she has endured very difficult conditions including extreme isolation.
'The Australian government should press forcefully and consistently for Kylie's release and safe return to Australia.'
The Guardian also reported Ms Moore-Gilbert was watched closely at Qarchak to ensure she couldn't contact the outside world.
In a series of letters smuggled from the prison by Australia's ambassador to Iran Lyndall Sachs, the inmate revealed she had been offered the opportunity to spy on behalf of Tehran in exchange for her freedom - an offer she declined.
'I feel so very hopeless … I am so depressed,' she said in a phone call.
Authorities at Qarchak , dubbed by human rights groups as the nation's most dangerous institution for women, have reportedly been trying to quash an outbreak among prisoners and guards
Dr Moore-Gilbert's identity was made public earlier in 2020 by a Persian language blog
People who attended the conference in 2018 in Qom said she was flagged as 'suspicious' by Iran's Revolutionary Guards - employed to defend the nation's political system - who arrested her at the airport on the way back to Australia.
Dr Moore-Gilbert went to All Saints College in her regional home town before travelling to the UK as an undergraduate student of the Middle East at Cambridge.
While there in 2011, as a member of the Cambridge Union, she met guest speaker Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Friends have told of an intelligent and caring young woman with a strong sense of justice and who lived for her work as an expert in Middle East affairs.
Dr Moore-Gilbert was described as shy and measured with her words and friends do not understand how she came to be in her current predicament.
Former inmates of Evin have described the frequent use of torture by sadistic guards while witnessing people being hanged in the jail's central courtyard
Bloggers, teachers and academics have been thrown inside its squalid cells after being accused of questionable crimes (pictured: Evin Prison)
On the University of Melbourne's website, she is listed as an expert in Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern History and Middle Eastern Studies.
Her most recent research was looking into 'Iran's relationship with Bahrain's Shi'a after the Arab Uprisings'.
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said their efforts to secure Moore-Gilbert's release were 'an absolute priority'.
'We remain focused on her health, wellbeing and safety,' a spokeswoman told the publication.
'We do not accept the charges upon which Dr Moore-Gilbert was convicted, and want to see her returned to Australia as soon as possible.'
IRAN'S NOTORIOUS QARCHAK PRISON
The Qarchak women's prison is located in a barren desert, east of Tehran, and hosts a large number of inmates despite its small size.
It is known as the most dangerous in the nation due to its inhumane medical and psychological conditions.
The Human Rights' Activists News Agency published a detailed report about the prison saying it held the worst reputation among women's prisons in Iran.
According to the report, the prison's seven sections include more than 2,000 prisoners where 200-300 prisoners are held in each section.
There are no rooms in the prison but there is one hall that has 600 beds. The other prisoners, who number around 1,400 and some children have to sleep on the floor.
The prison does not divide inmates according to the crimes committed, leading to violence.
According to the report, inmates are subjected to all forms of torture which also include rape.
The prison's management insults and beats up prisoners thus causing and worsening psychological problems.
Management punishes inmates who protest the prison's conditions, such as the bad quality of food or lack of medical services, by sending them to solitary confinement with another psychologically disturbed prisoner in order to torture them.
Prisoners are usually served spaghetti, boiled potatoes and bread. As a result, many prisoners suffer from severe vitamins' deficiency.
Source: Alarabiya News