Paris-Geneva,
October 14, 2022 – After already being sentenced to several years in
prison on various charges over the past year and a half, on October 9,
2022, prominent human rights defender Narges Mohammadi was sentenced to
an additional 15 months in prison, bringing her total sentence to 11
years and nine months. The Observatory (FIDH-OMCT) and the League for
the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) strongly condemn this new
sentence and the relentless judicial harassment against Ms. Mohammadi,
and reiterate their call for her immediate and unconditional release.
On October 9, 2022, Narges Mohammadi
was informed of a new 15-month prison sentence by Branch 26 of Tehran’s
Islamic Revolution Court on charge of “propaganda against the system”
(Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code) for expressing her support for
the right of the people to demonstrate, in relation to the ongoing
protests in Iran. Ms. Mohammadi learned about this new sentence while
being arbitrarily detained in Evin prison, Teheran. The court sentenced
Ms. Mohammadi in absentia, as she refused to attend the court hearing.
The sentence includes several additional sanctions to be applied upon
her release, including: monthly reporting to the police for a two-year
period; bans on travelling abroad and on membership of political parties
and groups for two years; and cleaning the urban areas in one of the
cities from garbage four hours a day for three months. This sentence can
be appealed. However, in the past, Ms Mohammadi has refused to appeal
other sentences imposed against her, knowing that they would be upheld,
and in order not to legitimise the court’s decisions.
This is the third sentence that had been imposed against Ms Mohammadi
over the past year and a half, bringing her total sentence to 11 years
and nine months in prison, along with several dozen lashes and all sorts
of bans. In May 2021, Ms. Mohammadi was sentenced to 30 months in prison
for “spreading propaganda against the system” (Article 500 of the
Islamic Penal Code). In January 2022, she received a prison sentence of eight years and two months
for “assembly and collusion to act against national security” (Article
610 of the Islamic Penal Code) and “acting against national security and
disrupting public order” (presumably Article 508 of the Islamic Penal
Code).
Ms Mohammadi is facing another court case for “civil disobedience”
brought against her by the intelligence agencies and the Qarchak prison
prosecutor before the Criminal Court of Shahr-e Rey Branch 101 for her
describing as civil disobedience her refusal to “recognise the illegal
and unjust rulings of courts affiliated to intelligence agencies” as she
put it.
Narges Mohammadi is a journalist and spokesperson for the Iranian
human rights NGO Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC). She has
campaigned for the abolition of death penalty in Iran, and was awarded
the Per Anger Prize by the Swedish government for her human rights work
in 2011.
The Observatory and LDDHI recall that Narges Mohammadi was violently arrested on November 16, 2021, while she was taking part in a memorial service for a victim of the November 2019 killings of anti-government protesters.
On the same day, she was sent to Evin prison, where she was held in
solitary confinement, to serve her May 2021 sentence. On January 19,
2022, Ms Mohammadi was transferred from Tehran’s Evin prison to Qarchak
prison, south of Tehran. In July 2022, together with all female
political prisoners, Ms Mohammadi was transferred back to Evin prison.
Ms Mohammadi had previously been arbitrarily detained in Zanjan
prison, Zanjan Province, for more than five years, during which her health deteriorated. During this period, she was subjected to sexual harassment and physical assault. She was released on October 8, 2020.
The Observatory and LDDHI strongly condemn the new conviction and
prison sentence of Narges Mohammadi and denounce the incessant judicial
harassment against her, which is only aimed at silencing her and
punishing her for her legitimate human rights activities. The
Observatory and LDDHI also condemn the ongoing arbitrary detention of
Narges Mohammadi and express their utmost concern over the risks of
assault and deterioration of her health in prison, given the Iranian
authorities’ record of denying medical care to her and all other human rights defenders.
The Observatory and LDDHI call on the Iranian authorities to
guarantee in all circumstances the physical integrity and psychological
well-being of Narges Mohammadi, to drop all charges against her, and to
immediately and unconditionally release her, as well as all other human
rights defenders arbitrarily detained in the country.
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