Narges Mohammadi Sentenced to Prison, Flogging, and Communications Ban
Narges Mohammadi, a civil rights activist, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison and 70 lashes after two months of interrogation and solitary confinement at the Ministry of Intelligence detention facility.
Taghi Rahmani, a political activist based in Paris and Ms. Mohammadi’s husband, announced the news on Sunday, the 23rd of Bahman, in a tweet stating that the civil rights activist was tried in a 5-minute court session and sentenced, in addition to imprisonment and flogging, to two years of “communications ban.”
Mr. Rahmani described this ban as “vague,” noting that since Ms. Mohammadi has had no contact with her family, the details of the trial and the new verdict remain unclear.
In a case opened against this civil rights activist in recent months, charges including “propaganda against the system,” “sit-in at the prison office,” “defiance of prison leadership and authorities,” “breaking glass,” and “slander” regarding torture and assault allegations were raised, and she was previously sentenced to “80 lashes, 30 months in prison, and two monetary payments.”
Narges Mohammadi was arrested on the 25th of Aban during a security raid on a mourning ceremony at the grave of Ibrahim Ketabdar, one of the victims of Aban 98.
On the 7th of Dey, Taghi Rahmani posted on his Twitter account about the continuation of his wife’s detention and uncertain status in one of the solitary cells of Ward 209 in Evin Prison, and new charges including “spying for Saudi Arabia” against Narges Mohammadi.
One day later, on the 8th of Dey, security forces “searched and inspected” Ms. Mohammadi’s residence and seized some of her personal items, including her book “White Torture.”
Zia Nabavi, a civil rights activist and former political prisoner, reported on the 29th of Dey in a tweet that Ms. Mohammadi had been transferred to “Hall Number Eight” at Qarchak Prison in Varamin.
Previously, Nasrin Sotoudeh, an imprisoned lawyer, had written a letter to the head of the Prison Organization describing Qarchak Prison conditions as “non-standard and inhumane,” requesting that authorities “establish a prison befitting the dignity of Iranian women in an appropriate location.”
Source: Radio Farda
