Australian officials are looking into reports a Melbourne university lecturer jailed in Iran has been moved to a secret location, with Iranian officials yet to tell their Australian counterparts.
Cambridge-educated Kylie Moore-Gilbert has been held in prison for more than two years after being detained in September 2018. She was sentenced to 10 years’ prison in a secret trial on espionage charges, which are rejected by the Australian government.
She was being held in Evin Prison in the capital, Tehran, for most of that time but was suddenly moved in June this year to Qarchak women’s prison in the desert.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran over the weekend said Dr Moore-Gilbert had been transferred from Qarchak prison to an unknown location.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said “the reports that we have seen are ones which we are seeking further information on”.
Senator Payne said the Australian ambassador to Iran had a consular visit with Dr Moore-Gilbert “a short time ago” in Qarchak prison, but could not confirm whether she had been moved after the meeting took place.
In a statement, a group of friends and supporters of Dr Moore-Gilbert said the the reports were extremely concerning.
Read the article by Anthony Galloway in The Sydney Morning Herald.