Over 350 Signatories Denounce Iran's Ruling Against 11 Jailed Women's Rights Activists
In a statement demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the eleven women's rights activists now held in Gilan province, over three hundred and fifty advocates from various sectors of society have spoken out in forceful defence of the detainees.
With 355 other signatories, the statement has denounced the severe punishments meted out to the Gilan activists.
"We, a group of women's rights activists and civil and political activists, demand the cancellation of all the sentences, the cessation of pressure on the activists, and their unconditional freedom," the statement reads.
The statement asserts that the continued fight against oppression in the region is highlighted by the recent sentencing of women's rights advocates in Gilan.
It states, about "repressive forces," that the Islamic Republic is demonstrating its opposition to justifiable calls for reform through these rulings.
This letter's signatories denounce what they call "baseless accusations" levelled against the Gilan activists. They contend that the activists' solidarity exemplifies the genuine essence of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, which aims to maintain the achievements achieved after years of struggle.
According to the legal representatives of the eleven activists who were apprehended in Gilan, their collective prison terms exceed sixty years. Zohreh Dadras was handed a prison term of nine years, six months and two days by the trial's presiding judge, Mehdi Rasekhi.
In her case, she is accused of "forming a group to act against national security."
Forough Saminia, Sara Jahani, Yasamin Hashdari, Shiva Shah Sia, Negin Rezaie, Azadeh Chavoshian, Matin Yazdani, Hooman Taheri, and Jelveh Javaheri are among the ten activists who have been handed prison terms of six years and forty-seven days apiece for "assembly and collusion to act against national security."
Javaheri and Taheri were both given one-year terms for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic. and trial proceedings commenced on February 29. Last year on August 16, security officers stormed the residences of the activists in Rasht, Anzali, Lahijan, and Fuman, and got them arrested.
While their cases were being heard, they were subsequently granted bail and released from Rasht's Lakan Prison.