Thirty three women's rights defenders arrested in Tehran

Photos: Arash Ashoorinia, Kosoof.com, report: meydaan.com

Thirty three women's rights defenders were arrested today in Tehran during a peaceful gathering in front of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran. The gathering was to protest the recent state pressures on women's rights defenders.

Courtesy photos, source unknown

In today's peaceful protest, women held banners reading, "Article 27 of the constitution guarantees the right to peaceful protests" and "We, too, participated in the previous peaceful protest on 22 Khordad" to show their solidarity with the five women activists who had been summoned to the court for previous peaceful protests and had their appearance in court at the time.

The organizers of the two major current campaigns, Stop Stoning Forever, and One Million Signatures to Change the Discriminatory Law, have been among the women rights defenders by the National Security Police.

According to the report published by Zanestan and Advar News, the list of the arrested is as follows:

Shadi Sadr, Asieh Amini, Jila Bani Yaghoub, Mahboubeb Abbasgholizadeh, Mahboubeh Hosseinzadeh, Sara Loghmani, Zara Amjadian, Mariam Hossein Khah, Jelveh Javaheri, Niloofar Golkar, Parastoo Dokoohaki, Zeinab Peyghambarzadeh, Maryam Mirza, Saghar Laghayee, Rezvan Moghadam, Saghie Laghayee, Nahid Keshavarz, Mahnaz Mohammadi, Nasrin Afzali, Farideh Entesari,Sara Imanian, Elnaz Ansari, Fatemeh Govarayee, Azadeh Forghani, Sommayeh Farid, Minoo Mortezayee, Sara Imanian.
Nooshin Amhadi Khorasani, Parvin Ardalan, Shahla Entesari and Susan Tahmasebi—five prominent members of the women's rights movement—who had to attend their court hearing left the court session in support of their fellow activists. They, too, got arrested upon their departure from the court.

Nooshin Ahmadi

Jila Baniyaghoob

Shahla Entesari

Azadeh Forghani

Fatemeh Govaraee

Maryam Hoseinkhah

Nahid Jafari

Nahid Keshavarz

Sara Loghmani

Rezvan Moghadam

Minoo Mortazi

Shadi Sadr

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Sign the online petition:
When you sign the petition, a copy of it is sent to the offices of Mr. Seyed Mahmoud Shahroudi, the Head of Judiciary, and another copy is sent to Mr. Golam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the leader of the Iranian Parliament.

Spread the Word:
Please tell friends about this campaign and ask them to support the release of women's rights defenders, too.

Write a Letter: Also, you can directly write to the Iranian authorities, including Mr. Seyed Mahmoud Shahroudi, the Head of Judiciary, Mr. Golam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the leader of the Iranian Parliament ,and Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In your letter, please ask the Iranian authorities to uphold the law and refer to the article 27 of the Iranian constitution, "Public gatherings and marches may be freely held, provided arms are not carried and that they are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam." and ask for an immediate and unconditional release of all the women rights defenders.

Please send letters to:

Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: irjpr@iranjudiciary.org (mark 'Please forward to HE Ayatollah Shahroudi')
(Salutation: Your Excellency)

President:
His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud AhmadiNejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 649 5880
E-mail: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir

(Salutation: Dear Sir)

Golam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the leader of the Iranian Parliament Majles-e Shura-ye Eslami
Imam Khomeini Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 646 1746 (occasionally difficult to reach, please be patient)
(Salutation: Dear Sir)

Please note that it is not always easy to send fax and email to Iran and we urge you to also courier your letters to the Iranian embassy in your country (see the listing of an Iranian embassy in your country here.