Three women who were on their way to India to attend a training course in journalism were arrested at Imam Khomeini airport and sent to the notorious ward 209 of Evin prison, which is under the control of the security apparatus of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Of the three, Mansureh Shojayi and Talaat Taghinia are well-known women activists while Farnaz Seyfi is among the youngest detained women in recent years. Farnaz’ father who runs a webblog, Emshaspenda, told Rooz Online, “The flight to India was at 6am. At 10am, my daughter returned home with three agents. They searched her belongings and eventually took with them the hard drive of her computer, some of her personal hand-written notes, books and other belongings. The warrant arrest they showed had been issued by branch 1 of the revolutionary court.

Upon their daughter’s arrest, Seyfi’s parents immediately went to Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi’s offices and signed papers to appoint her as their attorneys for the release of their daughter. Quoting Ebadi, Mr. Seyfi said that the arrest was illegal because no charges were made against their daughter and not violations were said to have taken place.

The training course in India was to be attended by 15 individuals, three of them were arrested and the other 12 individuals were advised (by security agents) to forego the training or face the consequences on their return from India.

Up to this point in time, no government agency or official has issued a public statement over the arrest of the women activists. IN recent months, security agents of the Islamic regime have been sensitive about seminars organized outside the country. Just two months ago, Ali Farahbakhsh, a journalist reporting economic news with local media was arrested on his return from Thailand where he had attended a seminar. Officials have refrained from presenting any news about his condition. According to family sources who last visited Farahbakhsh, the journalist now has health problems and needs special medical care. He too was transferred to ward 209 of Evin upon his arrest.

Prior to him, another intellectual Ramin Jahanbegloo was arrested at Mehrabad airport in Tehran on his return from India and was jailed for months at Evin prison.