New prison sentence issued against imprisoned woman human rights defender, a travesty of justice
Paris-Geneva,May 20, 2016. The ongoing judicial harassment against the arbitrarilyimprisoned human rights defender Ms. Nargess Mohammadi in Iran should stop andshe must be released immediately, said the Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT).
©International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
On May 18,2016, Ms. Nargess Mohammadi, Spokesperson and Vice-Presidentof the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC), was notified of the newsentence issued by Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolution Court against her: atotal of 16 years consisting of five years for “assembly and collusion tocommit crimes against national security”, one year for “spreading propagandaagainst the State”, and 10 years for “establishing and running the illegalsplinter group LEGAM”[1].Under Article 134 of the 2013 Islamic Penal Code, if the sentence is upheld onappeal, she will have to serve the highest sentence, i.e. 10 yearsimprisonment. She will be appealing the new sentence.
Ms. Mohammadicommenced serving an arbitrary six-year prison sentence on April 21, 2012, butshe was released on July 31, 2012 on bail for medical reasons, as she sufferedfrom muscular paralysis and lung complications. She was arbitrarily re-arrestedon May 5, 2015, allegedly in order to serve the remainder of thesame six-year prison sentence, although she was still suffering from the samediseases. Ms. Mohammadi wasparticularly targeted after she met with then European Union (EU) HighRepresentative Ms. Ashton in Tehran during the latter’s visit in March 2014,which prompted the charge of “spreading propaganda against the State” in thenew case.
Ms. Mohammadiwas transferred to hospital in October 2015 after suffering nervous attacks,where she was under round the clock watch and was chained hand and foot to herbed and suffered convulsions at least three times.
Ms. Mohammadi has been facing continuous judicial harassment related toher human rights work, in and out of prison, including repeated summons,interrogations and trials for several years now[2].She received the “City of Paris” medal in May 2016.
The Observatory urges the Iranian authorities to guarantee the physicaland psychological integrity of Ms. Mohammadi, and to release her immediatelyand unconditionally since her detention is arbitrary asit only aims at sanctioning her human rights activities.The Observatory more generally urges the Iranian authorities to put an end toall harassment - including at the judicial level - against all human rightsdefenders in Iran.
TheObservatory further urges the EU and the French Government to intervene on Ms.Mohammadi’s behalf, as well as the United Nations Working Group on ArbitraryDetention, which has received an official complaint regarding Ms. Mohammadi’scase, to urgently issue an Opinion on her case.
TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) wascreated in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). Theobjective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations ofrepression against human rights defenders.
[1] LEGAM(“Step by Step to Stop the Death Penalty”) is a group of human rightsactivists, which campaigns for the abolition of death penalty in Iran. It hasnever been declared illegal. Ms. Mohammadi joined LEGAM after it wasestablished.
[2] See Observatory Press Releases ofMay 5, 2015, July 10, 2015, and October 19, 2015.
