US Condemns Prison Sentences for Three Mandatory Hijab Opponents in Iran

The United States condemned the issuance of a combined 55-year prison sentence against three opponents of mandatory hijab in Iran.

Morgan Ortagus, spokesperson for the US State Department, wrote on Wednesday, August 23 on her Twitter page: “We condemn the Iranian regime for issuing a 55-year prison sentence for Yasaman Aryani, Manizheh Arabshahi, and Mojgan Keshavarz for opposing mandatory hijab, while they had only distributed red flowers.”

Ms. Ortagus, who used the hashtag “whitewednesdays” in her tweet, called on all countries to condemn this serious and grave violation of human rights.

Recently, Judge Moghadasi, presiding judge of Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, sentenced Yasaman Aryani, Manizheh Arabshahi, and Mojgan Keshavarz, three imprisoned civil activists in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, to a combined 55 years and six months in prison. If this sentence becomes final, the maximum penalty would be enforceable.

Yasaman Aryani, Manizheh Arabshahi, and Mojgan Keshavarz were each sentenced to 16 years in prison on charges of “gathering and conspiracy with intent to act against national security,” “propaganda against the system,” and “encouraging and providing the means for corruption and obscenity.” Additionally, Mojgan Keshavarz was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison on charges of “insulting sacred values.”

It is reported that the reason for the arrest of Mojgan Keshavarz, Manizheh Arabshahi, and Yasaman Aryani was the distribution of flowers in the women’s car of Tehran metro and protest against mandatory hijab on International Women’s Day (March 8).

Last March, Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, praised the efforts of Iranian women to fight mandatory hijab during the “Courageous Women Award” ceremony at the US State Department.

In April of this year, the US State Department issued a statement strongly condemning the severe suppression of women’s rights activists in Iran by the Islamic Republic regime and called for an end to the harassment, persecution, and imprisonment of women who are only demanding their basic and fundamental rights.

Additionally, Amnesty International issued a report in June of this year, describing the role of mandatory hijab in the daily lives of Iranian women and girls, and pointed to sometimes very violent treatment by the Islamic Republic regime’s moral police against women who do not wear complete hijab.

Source: Voice of America