Sentence of Three Years and 11 Months of Imprisonment for “Sepideh Rashno” Finalized

The lawyer of “Sepideh Rashno” announced the finalization of her sentence of three years and 11 months of imprisonment.

Sepideh Rashno, a translator, writer, civil activist, and editor, was arrested and tortured by the morality police three months before Mahsa Amini’s death and the start of nationwide protests, in protest against mandatory hijab. Alzahra University also banned her from studies for two terms due to her non-compliance with Islamic dress code.

It should be noted that Rashno was arrested following the circulation of a video on social media in which she objected to a veiled woman on a bus about her clothing. After being summoned to court, she was released on a bail of one billion tomans, but was not permitted to leave Tehran.

She posted a photo of herself without mandatory hijab on her Instagram page in Mehr and wrote that she would appear in court with her lawyer in this attire and defend herself. She also announced in Aban of the current year that due to a new verdict issued against her, the suspended sentence of the first case (the bus case) would be revoked.

According to the statements of Milad Panahi, her defense lawyer, the formation of a new case against her was due to posting a photo of herself on Instagram and informing about the verdict of the disciplinary committee of Alzahra University. He also announced that Rashno had been sentenced to this punishment on the charge of “publishing obscene images in cyberspace.”

Milad Panahi announced that Tehran Province’s Court of Appeals issued four months of definitive imprisonment for his client, thus sentencing this civil activist to a total of three years and 11 months of definitive imprisonment for two cases.

Sepideh Rashno once again wrote in a message on her Instagram page: “Four years of imprisonment for having hair is as absurd as imprisoning someone for having hands or feet. I only wish I could make my family understand that I am not ashamed, I did not want their sorrow. Make my father understand that his daughter’s imprisonment is not a disgrace, and the people of our village are also changing. Tell my sister not to keep my imprisonment away from my twins, tell her prison exists but it does not define a criminal. She stood by her rights, by the future that is for them. You should not be happy either. Four years of dark captivity cannot change the truth. You have lost to awareness and will.”