Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an academic at the University of Melbourne, has been detained in Iran since 2018. She was convicted of espionage last year and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
She has now been transferred from Tehran’s Evin Prison to Qarchak Women’s Prison, east of the capital, according to a spokesperson for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
“The case of Dr. Moore-Gilbert is a top priority for the Australian government, including for our embassy officials in Tehran,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement to CNN. “We are urgently seeking greater consular access to it at this new location. We hold Iran responsible for the safety and well-being of Dr. Moore-Gilbert.”
In December 2019, the US State Department determined that Qarchak Prison met the criteria for “serious human rights violations”, describing it as “an environment that allows rape and murder.”
Moore-Gilbert is a scholar and professor of Islamic studies focused on politics in the Arab Gulf states, according to her biography on the University of Melbourne website.
.
