{"id":921,"date":"2016-05-20T15:17:43","date_gmt":"2016-05-20T15:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=921"},"modified":"2016-05-20T15:17:43","modified_gmt":"2016-05-20T15:17:43","slug":"leading-iranian-human-rights-activist-to-serve-ten-years-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=921","title":{"rendered":"Leading Iranian Human Rights Activist to Serve Ten Years in Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Human Rights activist Narges Mohammadi<\/p><\/div>\n

May 19, 2016\u2014The prominent Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has been sentenced to serve ten years of a 16-year prison sentence, for her work defending human and women\u2019s rights in Iran.<\/p>\n

Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced Mohammadi to ten years in prison for \u201cmembership in the [now banned] Step by Step to Stop the Death Penalty<\/a>,\u201d five years for \u201cassembly and collusion against national security,\u201d and one year for \u201cpropaganda against the state,\u201d the Defenders of Human Rights Center<\/a> announced on May 18, 2016.<\/p>\n

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran calls on the Islamic Republic to immediately release the unlawfully imprisoned Narges Mohammadi and end the years of suffering she has unjustly endured behind bars.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen years in prison for a well-respected advocate for peaceful civil activities demonstrates the Islamic Republic\u2019s refusal to tolerate any peaceful dissent,\u201d said Hadi Ghaemi, the Campaign\u2019s executive director, \u201cand its willingness to brush aside the law in punishing those who engage in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohammadi will be eligible for release in ten years based on Article 134<\/a> of Iran\u2019s New Islamic Penal Code, her lawyer Mahmoud Behzadi-Rad told the Campaign, which allows for only the heaviest sentence to be served in cases where there are convictions on multiple charges. The verdict will be appealed, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cRouhani\u2019s Intelligence Ministry is responsible for detaining and building the case for Mohammadi\u2019s prosecution by the Judiciary, and now it is President Rouhani\u2019s responsibility to make every effort for her release and ensure Iran\u2019s citizens that ministries under his authority will not trample on their rights and freedoms,\u201d Ghaemi added.<\/p>\n

Mohammadi, winner of the 2011 Per Anger Prize<\/a> for her activism in human rights, was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 11 years in prison in October 2011 on charges of \u201cassembly and collusion against national security,\u201d \u201cmembership in the [now banned] Defenders of Human Rights Center,\u201d and \u201cpropaganda against the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Appeals Court reduced her sentence to six years in prison, and in 2013 she was released from Zanjan Prison on 600 million toman (approximately $200,000) bail for medical reasons.<\/p>\n

She continued her activism outside prison and in March 2014 met with the European Union\u2019s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton at the Austrian Embassy in Tehran to discuss Iran\u2019s human rights issues.<\/p>\n

After the meeting, Mohammadi was subjected to months of harassment and interrogations by the security establishment. Her arrest on May 5, 2015, ostensibly on the older charges, was more accurately related to Mohammadi\u2019s visit with Ashton and her continued peaceful activism.<\/p>\n

While awaiting trial in prison, Mohammadi has suffered from serious health problems<\/a> including a neurological disorder that causes muscular paralysis. In October 2015 she was transferred to hospital<\/a> on after suffering a seizure.<\/p>\n

Follow the\u00a0Campaign<\/em> on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

For the latest human rights developments in Iran visit the Campaign\u2019s<\/em> website<\/a><\/p>\n

For interviews, contact:<\/p>\n

Hadi Ghaemi at +1-917-669-5996, hadighaemi@iranhumanrights.org<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 19, 2016\u2014The prominent Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has been sentenced to serve ten years of a 16-year prison sentence, for her work defending human and women\u2019s rights<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[241],"class_list":["post-921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","tag-narges-mohammadi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=921"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":922,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921\/revisions\/922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}