A group of human rights activists have organized a live online event to raise awareness about political prisoners in Iranian prisons.

The webinar, which is scheduled to be livestreamed on YouTube late on Sunday January 9, is titled “Heroism for our time -- An afternoon of solidarity to free Iran's political prisoners”.

Mariam Claren, the daughter of jailed Iranian-German citizen Nahid Taghavi, and Larry Everest, a spokesman for the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners, are among the keynote speakers of the event.

Taghavi was arrested late in 2020at her home in Tehran and was transferred to Evin prison after weeks of detention without charge. In August, she was sentenced to over 10 years in prison on charges related to “propaganda against the regime”.

The event comes a day after imprisoned Iranian poet and writer Baktash Abtin died of Covid-19 complications after he was denied timely treatment by officials at Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.

Iranian security and intelligence organs, in close harmony with the country’s hardliner Judiciary, often make vague accusations against dual nationals. Both courts and prosecutors in Iran are controlled by the hardline Judiciary which is accountable to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Western countries and human rights organizations accuse Tehran of detaining innocent foreigners as bargaining chips to extract concession from other countries.