US Strongly Condemns Suppression of Women’s Rights Activists in Iran
Morgan Ortagus, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, on Tuesday, May 31st, issued a statement condemning the suppression of women’s rights activists in Iran and calling for an end to harassment, torture, and detention of women’s rights advocates.
In Morgan Ortagus’s statement, it was stated: The United States strongly condemns the suppression of women’s rights defenders by the Iranian government. Yasmin Aryani, Monire Arabshahi, and Mojgan Keshavarz have been arrested in recent days due to their peaceful protests against hijab laws.
She added: Vida Movahed, who was recognized as a symbol of nationwide protests last year and the “girl of Revolution Street,” was sentenced to one year in prison for her protest against mandatory hijab. Shaparak Shojazadeh was also sentenced to 20 years in prison for her peaceful protest against mandatory hijab.
Peyam Darfshan, lawyer for Vida Movahed, said on April 14th of this year in an interview with IRNA that Ms. Movahed was sentenced to one year in prison and is currently being held in Shahr-e Rey Prison.
According to Mr. Darfshan, Vida Movahed, for the second time, on November 29, 2018, “went atop the dome at Revolution Square holding several colored balloons,” after which she was arrested again.
“End harassment of women’s rights activists”
The U.S. State Department spokesperson continued: The United States once again condemns the unjust sentence against Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist, who has been sentenced to 148 lashes and 33 years in prison for her activities in defense of those suppressed by the Islamic Republic.
She added: Concurrent with the government’s concerns about the voice of public protests, a number of other women have been threatened and interrogated by security forces. We call on Iranian authorities to end the harassment, torture, and detention of women who are simply expressing their views and demanding their basic and fundamental rights.
Nasrin Sotoudeh recently wrote a letter from prison stating that judicial officials were angered by her defense of the “girls of Revolution Street,” and in addition to considering it “one of the manifestations of corruption and debauchery and sentencing her to 12 years of imprisonment,” the case judge also used “an ugly word in reference to this case that is subject to criminal prosecution in its own right.”
The issuance of new sentences for Nasrin Sotoudeh was met with widespread reaction from human rights organizations, the United States, and the European Union, and they called on Tehran to immediately release Ms. Sotoudeh.
Source: Radio Farda
