Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] Today marks 719 days since Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Australian academic who lived in my electorate, was imprisoned in Iran on charges of espionage. Dr Moore-Gilbert and the Australian parliament reject these charges. She was attending a conference in Tehran in September 2018 when she was arrested at the airport as she was about to leave the country. She was charged, convicted in a secret trial and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. None of the supposed evidence that convicted Dr Moore-Gilbert has been released.

Dr Moore-Gilbert was originally held in the Evin prison in solitary confinement and forced to sleep on the floor. However, Dr Moore-Gilbert was recently transferred to the Gharchak prison, a prison known as Iran's most dangerous. Gharchak prison is associated with widespread allegations of human rights abuses, including overcrowding, torture and rape. Dr Moore-Gilbert is gluten intolerant, but it has been reported in the media that she is being denied adequate food and proper consular assistance and that she was beaten and thrown in solitary confinement to prevent her from contacting the outside world and as punishment for assisting other prisoners.

Labor supports the government in its efforts to find a diplomatic solution to ensure Dr Moore-Gilbert's release, but those close to Kylie are rightly concerned at the lack of progress over the last two years. Kylie Moore-Gilbert is an Australian citizen and a political prisoner. She must be released, and we must not be silent until she is.