A former prisoner of the Iranian jail where Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert is being held has given an insight into its shocking conditions.
Exclusive: A former prisoner of the Iranian jail where Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert is being held has given an insight into its shocking conditions.
Jason Rezaian, who spent 544 days in the high security unit 2a of Evin prison, said lights were kept on 24 hours a day in the 3m by 2m solitary confinement cells.
He said the guards called the jail a “hotel” and they referred to the larger cells as “suites”, which were the size of a standard bedroom and did not even have a mattress.
Mr Rezaian, who was released in 2016, said that Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne must do everything she can to get Dr Moore-Gilbert out.
“I never expected that the Iranians were going to do the right thing and let me go,” he said.
“People don’t take hostages if they have a concept of shame.”
Dr Moore-Gilbert’s family released a statement at the weekend saying that they loved her and missed her.
They confirmed they had been able to speak with her on the telephone in recent weeks.
They added Dr Moore-Gilbert, a University of Melbourne Islamic Studies expert who grew up in Bathurst, NSW, had “strongly denied reports that she has attempted suicide or that she is being tortured.”
Read the article by Stephen Drill in the Herald Sun.