Repeated filing of cases against Atena Daemi; Masoumeh Nemati: IRGC agents have said that Atena will not back down from her positions
Masoumeh Nemati, the mother of Atena Daemi, a civil activist who has been in prison for more than 5 years, announced in an interview with the Human Rights Campaign in Iran that a new case has been filed against her daughter and said that despite the end of her prison sentence, the civil activist has been prevented from being released.
Ms. Nemati told the campaign that Atena Daemi has been denied leave for more than 5 years, and that IRGC interrogators have told her that because she has not relented from her stance, they will not allow her conditional release, in-person visits, or leave.
Atena Daemi, a civil rights activist and children’s rights activist, was arrested on October 19, 2014 by the IRGC Intelligence Service and sentenced to 14 years in prison on March 13, 2014 in a court presided over by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh. She was accused of “propaganda against the system, gathering and collusion against national security, insulting the leadership, insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic, and concealing evidence of a crime.” In the appeals court, she was barred from prosecution on the charge of concealing evidence of a crime and, based on Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, five years of imprisonment were imposed on her sentence.
Atena Daemi’s five-year prison sentence ended on July 4, but her mother, Masoumeh Nemati, said in an interview with the campaign: “The new case that they have opened for Atena is not the first case that has been filed. In the five years that Atena has been in prison, this is the seventh case that has been banned for some. The initial case was her own, which was first sentenced to 14 years and was implemented for five years under Article 134. Another case was shared with my other daughters, which was banned for prosecution. Another case with Golrokh Iraei, who is also in prison, is a joint case, which was related to the execution of Zanyar, Loghman Moradi, and Ramin Hossein Panahi, who had sung a hymn. That is why they created a new case for singing a hymn, and in this case, Atena and Golrokh were sentenced to three years and nine months in prison, which is enforceable under Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code for two years and one month. And they implemented the same sentence for Atena from Sunday to prevent her release.”
Atena Daemi’s mother announced the issuance of a prison sentence and flogging for another case against this civil activist and told the campaign: “On the 40th of Aban, which coincided with Yalda night, Atena and Narges Mohammadi and a number of children staged a sit-in in the women’s ward. During that sit-in, Narges was transferred to Zanjan Prison and Atena was taken to solitary confinement and was in solitary confinement for about 15 days. Atena was also charged with the fact that both the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence were working on the case, as well as the expert opinions of both institutions. Atena was summoned three times for this case, but because she had not been notified in advance and her lawyer had not been allowed to represent her in the case, she did not go to court. Finally, they agreed to have her lawyer present, and on May 14, a trial was held on charges of propaganda against the system and disturbing public order. The case was dismissed and because there was not enough evidence for these charges, it was returned to the prosecution. On July 7, Atena was again notified that she had to go to court, which lasted 5 minutes and she was unable to defend herself. July 10, a sentence of two years in prison and 74 lashes The lawyer was informed that this case and this verdict are separate from the joint case between Atena and Golrokh, whose verdict was implemented on Sunday.
Another case filed against Atena Daemi in prison is, according to her mother, a charge of disturbing public order. Ms. Nemati told the campaign: “The Evin Prosecutor’s Office summoned Atena and told her that another case had been opened and a criminal case had been filed against Atena, along with Maryam Akbari Monfared and Leila Hosseinzadeh, and a number of other women who are imprisoned in the women’s ward of Evin Prison. They said it was because of a slogan they chanted on February 12, 2019, but Atena says it was not a slogan and that they chanted the song “O Martyr.” The charge of disturbing public order was again explained to her and Atena denied this charge.”
According to her mother, the numerous cases filed against Atena Daemi are intended to pressure this civil activist. Masoumeh Nemati told the campaign: “According to the IRGC officers, Atena has not yet relented from her positions, which is why they are not allowing her to be released. The interrogators had told Atena that if you had written a request for pardon or at least shown through your behavior that you had relented from your positions, we would definitely have agreed to your conditional release or leave. But since you don’t do it, we are depriving you of everything. We have forbidden you from leave and visits, and conditional release. You have not relented, and you have not relented, and now we are making sure that you relent in another way. In fact, I think that the charge of disturbing the peace that they have brought is in line with this, that they are taking Atena out of the political ward and introducing her as a guilty prisoner.”
Masoumeh Nemati told the campaign about Atena Daemi’s five-year deprivation of leave and in-person visits: “Atena has not been granted leave at all since December 2016, when she was arrested to execute the verdict. We requested a lot of leave for medical leave, and then we requested leave for Hanieh’s (Atena Daemi’s sister) wedding, and then we applied for coronavirus. They always say that the prosecutor’s office objected and many times they don’t even let us into the prosecutor’s office. Atena’s health is very important to us now. Almost 8 months have passed since Atena’s doctor said she should be discharged from the hospital for more accurate tests. But every time they made an excuse. Once they said the form was lost. Once they said it was the November protests. Once they said Qassem Soleimani was killed, and every time they made an excuse that we couldn’t release the prisoner. Then they said it was coronavirus. This is while they hold the courts very easily and quickly and the coronavirus issue didn’t matter to them at all. The fact that they don’t care about Atena’s health at all is very important and worrying to us.”
Ensieh Daemi, Atena Daemi's sister, wrote on her personal Twitter about the civil activist's reaction to the new sentence: "After hearing the new sentence of two years in prison and 74 lashes, Atena told her father, 'I am free today because freedom is not about being behind bars, and each new sentence is a confirmation of my freedom!'"
Source: Human Rights Campaign
