Solidarity with Iranian Women Political Prisoners and Women Indicted for Opposing the Compulsory Hijab or for other Social Justice Activities
June 17, 2018
Below, the Alliance of
Middle Eastern Socialists is providing short biographies of several of the most
well-known feminist political prisoners, in order to heighten awareness of the
important role of women in the current protest movement in Iran and to promote
solidarity with Iranian feminist struggles, and the protest movement as a
whole.
A wave of
protests and strikes have been spreading throughout Iran in opposition to
the Islamic Republic since December 2017. Participants include
broad sectors of the Iranian working class, women and men, mostly
young.Their protests have been preceded by and continue to involve
protests and strikes by employed and unemployed workers, students,
teachers, healthcare workers, retirees, those who have lost their savings in
failed financial institution, political prisoners, and the families of political
prisoners. They include members of various oppressed national
minorities such as Arabs, Kurds, Lurs and Azaris as well as persecuted
religious minorities such as Baha’is and Sufis.
Many courageous
women who took off their headscarves in public to protest the compulsory
hijab, were beaten, arrested and temporarily released after posting heavy
bails. Among them, several are well-known cases such as Vida
Movahed, Narges Hosseini, Maryam Shariatmadari, Shaprak
Shajarizad. They were charged with “inciting corruption and
promoting prostitution” and face prison sentences. These women have come
to be known as “Girls of Revolution Avenue.” They believe that wearing
the hijab should be a matter of individual choice not imposed from above.
The Iranian regime’s own polls admit that a majority of the Iranian public
agrees with them.
Over a hundred women
and men attempted to come together to protest in front of the Ministry of Labor
in Tehran on March 8, International Women’s Day, following a call by some
women’s rights activists demanding an end to gender discrimination in the work
place, family and society as a whole, and an end to the compulsory
hijab. Before they could even gather, they were attacked and
beaten. At least 84 people (59 women and 25 men) were arrested by the
police. Although most have been released on bail, they face court
trials.
Nasrin Sotudeh,
a feminist, leading human rights attorney and defender of many of the
Girls of Revolution Avenue was arrested at her home on June 13, imprisoned,
and now faces a five-year prison sentence. Sotudeh’s husband,
Reza Khandan, a writer and political activist was also arrested on June
16. (see next page for further details on Nasrin Sotudeh).
Leila
Hosseinzadeh, an anthropology student, labor and women’s rights
activist, who was arrested after the December protests, along with
other student activists, faces a six-year prison sentence. She and
other student activists who also helped organize protests at Tehran University
and face prison sentences, have been charged with “endangering
national security.”…
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