Maryam Shariatmadari, One of Revolution Street Girls, Sentenced to One Year in Prison

Reports indicate that Maryam Shariatmadari, one of the protesters against mandatory hijab, has been sentenced to one year in prison.

Although Iran’s judiciary has not released her verdict, Nasrin Sotoudeh, the legal representative of Ms. Shariatmadari, told some news websites on Tuesday, the 7th of Farvardin, that her client has been sentenced to one year in prison on charges of “inciting corruption through unveiling.”

A wave of symbolic protests against mandatory hijab began last December, during which women and girls in Tehran and several other major Iranian cities stood at elevated locations on one of Iran’s main streets, removed their headscarves from their heads, and waved them.

Because this movement began at a location on Revolution Street in Tehran, these protesters became known as “Revolution Street Girls” or “Revolution Street Women.”

The 32-year-old Maryam Shariatmadari, on the 4th of Esfand last year, performed a similar action on Revolution Street, removed her headscarf and waved it in her hand. During this action, a police officer violently threw her off the platform, which resulted in injury to her foot.

There has been no report of action taken against the officer who attacked this woman.

Maryam Shariatmadari’s prison sentence is the second conviction for Revolution Street girls. Previously, the Tehran prosecutor announced that another of these women was sentenced to 24 months in prison, but 21 months of it was suspended for five months. Media outlets later reported that the girl about whom the Tehran prosecutor spoke was Narges Hosseini.

Before this, Shahindokht Molaverdi, Vice President for Women’s Affairs, without naming Ms. Shariatmadari, had stated that she pursued the beating of one of the girls protesting the hijab through the Interior Ministry. However, it appears that Ms. Molaverdi’s pursuit has not yet yielded results.

The protest movement of girls and women in Iran against mandatory hijab received widespread domestic and international resonance.

The leader of the Islamic Republic called this movement “a despicable act,” but some international human rights organizations, including “Amnesty International” and “Human Rights Watch,” condemned the suppression of protesters against mandatory hijab and called for the Islamic Republic of Iran to end the persecution of women who have peacefully protested mandatory hijab laws.

Source: Voice of America