Iran: Human rights activists and journalists summoned for imprisonment as the appeals court upheld the sentence due to “anti-government propaganda”

October 11, 2020, Tehran, Iran -- Photographer and women’s rights activist Alieh Motalebzadeh and student and citizen journalist Roghieh (Ashraf) Nafari were summoned an arrest warrant to turn to Tehran’s Evin Prison over charges of “propaganda against the state”.

Branch 36 of Tehran’s appeals court upheld Alieh Motalebzadeh’s sentence of three years imprisonment. In 2016, Alieh Motalebzadeh, women’s rights activist, was sentenced to three years in prison by a  preliminary court. According to the Article 134 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, the charge with the highest penalty will be considered; this means that she should serve two years in prison.

She was summoned to Evin Prison by a text message stating that she should show up in the next five days to start serving her time. She was sentenced to three years in prison in 2016 for the charges of “assembly and collision” and “propaganda against the state”.

Alieh Motalebzadeh was arrested on November 24, 2016 and was transferred to Evin Prison’s ward 209. On December 19, 2016, she was temporarily released on a 300-million-Toman (approx. 27 thousand dollars) bail after 25 days in prison. Motalebzadeh was a member of the“One Million Signatures for the Repeal of Discriminatory Laws” campaign and had been arrested multiple times.

Roghieh (Ashraf) Nafari on the other hand was returned to prison to serve a three-month sentence on a charge of “anti-government propaganda” for tweets that were rendered inaccessible after security police arrested her on 26 March. 

Legal harassment of women journalists in Iran, which is one of the main jailers of journalists have been rampant this year. The Coalition For Women In Journalism documented 12 cases of threats against women journalists in Iran, all of which have to do with misuse of the law by authorities to silence journalists. Recently, On October 4, security forces arrested Shabnam Ashouri, the editor-in-chief for Aghahinameh, an economic publication focusing on manual and industrial labor and workers’ rights. No reason was given for her arrest, but Reporters Without Borders has reported that at least six workers’ rights activists had also been recently arrested. There are currently six women journalists imprisoned in Iran due to “anti-government propaganda” charges, with Alieh and Rogieh being the most recent cases of imprisonment of women journalists. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism demands the release of women journalists held in notorious conditions and urges the Iranian judiciary to revisit their decision. The freedom to speech and expression is the birth right of every human, and it is the duty of a journalist to report the facts and share it with the public. Authorities must allow all of its citizens to practice their rights without fear of being prosecuted for it.