CRY FREEDOM.net
formerly known as
Women's Liberation Front
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Welcome to cryfreedom.net, formerly known as Womens Liberation Front.  A website that hopes to draw and keeps your attention for  both the global 21th. century 3rd. feminist revolution as well as especially for the Zan, Zendegi, Azadi uprising in Iran and the struggles of our sisters in other parts of the Middle East. This online magazine that started December 2019 will be published every week. Thank you for your time and interest.
Gino d'Artali
indept investigative journalist
radical feminist and women's rights activist 
 


You are now at the Iran 'Woman, Life, Freedom'  section
 

For the 'Women's Arab Spring 1.2' Revolt news click here
 

 

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JINA MAHSA AMINI
The face of Iran's protests. Her life, her dreams and her death.

In memory of Jina 'Mahsa' Amini, the cornerstone of the 'Zan. Zendagi. Azadi revolution.
16 February 2023 | By Gino d'Artali

And also
Read all about the assasination of the 22 year young Jhina Mahsa Amini or Zhina Mahsa Amini (Kurdistan-Iran) and the start of the Zan, Zendagi, Azadi (Women, life, freedom) revolution in Iran  2022
And the latest news about the 'Women Live Freedom' Revolution per month in
2024: Feb wk1 - Jan wk5 -- Jan wk4 part2 -- Jan wk4 -- overview per month
and 2023: Dec wk 5 part 2 -- Dec wk 5 -- Dec week 4-3 -- Dec wk3 -- Dec 17 - 10 -- Dec week 2 and 1 -- click here for a menu overview November - Januari 2023

And for all topics below
that may hopefully interest you click on the image:

'THE NO-HIJABIS

Updated January 15, 2024

'BIOLOGICAL
TERROR ATTACKS
AGAINST SCHOOLGIRLS'

Updated October 10, 2023

'IRANIAN JOURNALISTS
UNDER SIEGE'

Updated Januari 22, 2024  

'BLINDING
AS A WEAPON'

Updated January 3, 2024

'THE HANGING SPREE'

Updated Januari 24, 2024

CLICK HERE ON HOW TO READ ALL ON THIS PAGE 


September 2023: THE REGIME'S ATTEMPT AND CRUELTY TO TRY AND CRUSH THE PROTESTS, AND THE REVOLT SINCE THE COMMEMORATION OF THE KILLING OF JINA MAHSA AMINI A YEAR AGO  
(Updates February 2, 2024)
 


 

Articles about:
<<Mahsa Amini's Father: <Everything They Have Said and Shown is Lies>
and
WHO JINA AMINI REALLY WAS.
By Diako Alavi, a journalist from Saqqez and family friend of Mahsa Amini 
and
The face of Iran's protests. Her life, her dreams and her death.
By a renowned German outlet 
and
November 15, 2023 - <<Iranian Woman Arrested on Jinas' Anniversary Tells Her Story...>
and
December 12, 2023 - <<EU Remembers Mahsa Amini at Sakharov Prize Awarding Ceremony...>
and
December 23, 2023 - <<Saleh Nikbakht Interrogated at Khomeini Airport and the Sakharov Prize confiscated by Iranian security forces...>
 

Click here to go to previous parts:
Updates:
Part 16: December 28 - 16, 2023
Part 17: January 23 - 6, 2024
 

Gino d'artali's opinion: We mourn AND fight!


When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.

'THE JINA REVOLUTION'

Preface by Gino d'Artali - Dec 25, 2023
Dear reader, the, as I call it, Jina Revolution is alive and kicking despite the ruthless oppression and killings by the mullahs' regime and proof of that lays in my report as listed below but let me, with your permission, first ask for your attention for the situation for Jina's family and especially her mother Mojgan Eftekhari, who said the following:
my daughter <spread the dream of freedom from her hometown of Kurdistan to the whole of Iran, the Middle East and the world, mobilizing millions of oppressed women and men.> <I firmly believe that her name will forever embody freedom alongside Joan of Arc's name,> she added, in referrence to a saint honored as a defender of the French nation during the Hundred Years' War.>

Read more here:
JINA AMINI'S VOICE IS HEARD

despite the mullahs' regime to force it down!



Roya Heshmati
"In the name of woman, in the name of life, the clothes of slavery are torn, our black night will dawn, and all the whips will be axed..."
Roya Heshmati whispered enduring 74 lashes for publishing a photo without the mandatory hijab

Iranwire - 23 Jan 2024
<<Iranian Women Inmates to Launch Hunger Strike Against Death Penalty
In a defiant act of resistance against the Islamic Republic's clampdown on dissent, 61 political and ideological women incarcerated in Tehran's Evin prison are set to launch a hunger strike on January 25. The protest, spurred by the execution of Mohammad Ghobalou and the plight of hundreds of convicts on death row in Iran, aims to denounce the increased use of capital punishment by the country's authorities. Jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi shared the women prisoners' message on her Instagram page. <The imprisoned women will resist in order to keep the names of those executed alive and spare the lives of the hundreds of individuals awaiting execution in the prisons of the Islamic Republic. On January 20, they will express their protest through a hunger strike.> Mohammadi wrote. The Mizan news agency, which is affiliated with the judiciary, announced on January 23 that Ghobadlou, a man who was handed capital punishment in 2022 for allegedly killing a police officer during nationwide protests, had been executed. It was the ninth execution reported by the authorities in connection with the Woman Life Freedom movement.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/women/124611-iranian-women-inmates-to-launch-hunger-strike-against-death-penalty/



January 2024 - Read all about the brave women-led
'No-To-Execution'-Hunger-Strike-Movement
and one protester saying "Our Sole Objective Is the Complete Overthrow of the Islamic Republic"


Bahareh Hedayat
Iranwire - 22 Jan 2024
<<Jailed Dissident Asks the Opposition to Respect Liberal Values
Bahareh Hedayat, a well-known human rights activist imprisoned in Iran, has called for the downfall of the Islamic Republic, which she said is conducting a civilizational war against the West. In a letter from Tehran's Evin prison that was made available to IranWire, Hedayat says that the consistent self-identification as <revolutionary> by the Islamic Republic and its leader, Ali Khamenei, means an unwavering commitment to war that has been accompanied by corruption, injustice, killings, inefficiency and environmental degradation in the country. <The Islamic Republic and Khamenei made a fundamental choice, the consequences of which are destructive,. says Hedayat, who is serving a four-year sentence for participating in protests after the Islamic Republic Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down a Ukrainian airliner in January 2020. Stressing the need for those endorsing liberalism in Iran to be represented politically in the country, she calls for subversive groups backing this political doctrine to unite and garner support from all Iranians opposed to the Islamic Republic. She insists, however, that the liberals should distance themselves from leftists, Islamists and the authoritarian right. She urges liberal political forces to unify their discourses and to strive for the establishment of distinct political representation. <The liberal idea must attain a clear political identity independent of the left, Islamism, and authoritarian right. Integration is insufficient; we, as liberals, must stand independently,> she says. <The liberal idea should be prepared for a coalition detached from other ideologies.> Hedayat points out that a coalition between the left and Islamism had led to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, during which the concepts of democracy or freedom were not discussed, and the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Regarding Tehran's response to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Hedayat highlights that Iranians perceive the government's hostility toward Israel within the context of the Islamic Republic's civilizational war with the West. She criticizes political forces that fail to acknowledge this, asserting that such forces are not alternatives to the current status quo but rather seek to perpetuate it. Hedayat advocates for an alternative opposition force rooted in Western values. In another segment of her letter, Hedayat says that the protesters' demands during the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising were in line with liberal ideas. <In the major political movements in Iran over recent decades, one faction sought liberal freedoms and aspired to align with the West,> she says, referring to the women-led protest movement sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini. <In my view, liberalism signifies a return to its roots, a prelude to revolution, and the establishment of freedom,> the activist stresses. Concluding her letter, Hedayat highlights two political models within the realm of subversion, emphasizing that <constitutional monarchy and republic both stem from the liberal idea.> <Constitutionalism that questions democracy is not liberal, and a republican who links their libertarian heritage to 1979 lacks an understanding of the enemies of freedom,> she adds.
Hedayat's letter spanked widespread reactions among Iranian social media users. <Bahareh Hedayat's letter stands as the manifesto for the Women, Life, Freedom revolution. Make sure you read it thoroughly,> one post reads. <I hope that Bahareh Hedayat's significant letter marks the start of the organization of the right bloc within the Iranian opposition,> another user said on the social media platform X. <When liberalism in Iran is championed by intellectual warriors like Bahareh, I take pride in being a liberal,> another Iranian wrote. <Her recent letter from prison is worth multiple readings, prompts deep thought and extensive analysis.> >>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/politics/124569-jailed-dissident-asks-the-opposition-to-respect-liberal-values/
Opinion by G. d'A.: Personally I've been an anarchist all my life and will die as such and as an anarchist there are two political wings I never trust: the neo-nazi rightwing and the liberals. It were and are especially the first mentioned that, to quote A. Hitler, <Wollt Ihr den Totalen Krieg (translated: 'Do you want the total war' and gave the so-called 'scorched earth' meaning 'if we are to loose, let's burn Germany down to ashes' which is what the, I believe, is the 'final solution' the mullahs' regime has in mind if... But... there's a lot to say in favor of what Bahareh Hedayat stands and pleads for and the fact that she is since ever, and still even encarated in evin's prison, been a women's rights activist and on the Zan, Zendegi, Azadi side says enough. I'm on your side Bahareh Hedayat, all the way.

Iranwire - 12 Jan 2024
<<HRW: No End in Sight for Violent Repression in Iran
The Iranian authorities' <rutal repression>of peaceful dissent continues unabated one year after nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini' death in September 2022, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says. The authorities have also <consolidated their efforts to increase punitive measures against women who refuse to wear the mandatory headscarf in public spaces> , the New York-based group said in a statement on January 11 accompanying the release of its annual review of human rights around the globe. <For many, everyday life in Iran feels like a battle with a corrupt, autocratic government that has brought down the full force of its repressive machinery to quash dissent,> said Michael Page, Middle East deputy director.
<Iranian authorities should know that anything short of fundamental change will only deepen public anger and frustration against their mismanagement and brutality.> The Islamic Republic cracked down hard on the monthslong protests sparked by Amini's death while she was in police custody for an alleged hijab violation. More than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 others were unlawfully detained in the clampdown, activists say. Following grossly unfair trials, 25 death sentences were issued in connection to the protests, HRW said. At least eight protesters have been executed so far. <The authorities have refused to open transparent investigations into security forces’ use of excessive and lethal force, torture, sexual assault, and other serious abuses, and have instead pressured families of victims to not hold public memorial services,> HRW said.
<Scores of human rights defenders, journalists, members of ethnic and religious minorities, and dissidents are serving lengthy sentences after being convicted of national security charges in grossly unfair trials,> it added. <Detained protesters have died in suspicious circumstances.> Ahead of the protest anniversary, the authorities increased their crackdown on dissent through <intimidation, arrests, prosecutions, and trials of activists, artists, dissidents, lawyers, academics, students, and family members> of those killed during the 2022 protests, according to the group. The authorities also prosecuted women and girls who refuse to wear a headscarf in public, issued traffic citations for passengers without a head covering, and closed businesses that do not enforce the Islamic Republic's strict dress code on their premises. In September last year, parliament approved a draft Hijab and Chastity bill proposing increased prison terms up to 10 years for expressing opposition to hijab regulations, as well as restrictions on job and educational opportunities for violators. HRW also said it had documented <far harsher use of repressive tactics, including arbitrary arrests and excessive use of force,> in ethnic and religious minority areas of Kurdistan province and Sistan and Baluchistan province, which it said have played leading roles during the 2022 protests.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/124286-hrw-no-end-in-sight-for-violent-repression-in-iran/

Iranwire - 12 Jan 2024
<<US Envoy Decries Death Sentences Against Kurdish Iranian Political Prisoners
The US Office of the Special Envoy for Iran has condemned death sentences handed down recently against four Kurdish Iranian men, and urged the country's authorities to <repress their own people.> On January 6, the Norway-based human rights organization Hengaw reported that the Islamic Republic's Supreme Court had upheld the death sentences for the four political prisoners aged in their 20s. Mohsen Mazloum, Pezhman Fatehi, Vafa Azarbar and Mohammad (Hajir) Faramarzi had been sentenced in the first instance by the Tehran Revolutionary Court for allegedly collaborating with Israel, it said. <The Iranian regime continues to use false accusations, forced confessions, and unfair trials to silence political opponents and peaceful protestors,> US Deputy Special Envoy for Iran Abram Paley said on the social media network X. <We call on Iranian authorities to release all unjustly detained political prisoners and stop repressing their own people,> he wrote. The four Kurdish convicts, who are members of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, were arrested in West Azerbaijan Province in July 2022 <while trying to carry out an explosion in Isfahan's industrial facilities,> state media reported the following month. The party called the claims baseless, saying that <such a scenario has been proposed to suppress more people and protesters.> Hengaw cited sources close to their families as saying that their relatives have had no information about their fate or whereabouts and no face-to-face meetings or phone calls with them since their arrest, while their lawyer has not been able to study the case. State TV has broadcast the forced confession of the accused at least twice, the group added, while their families faced threats from government institutions. The rate of executions in Iran has been rising sharply in the wake of nationwide protests triggered by the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody for an alleged hijab violation. The Iran Human Rights group said in November that the Islamic Republic had executed more than 700 people in 2023, the highest figure in eight years. Amnesty International says the regime in Tehran executed more people than any other country in the world other than China last year. Ethnic minorities in Iran, including Kurds, face widespread discrimination in law and practice and are disproportionately affected by death sentences imposed for vague charges, according to the London-based human rights organization.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/prisoners/124271-us-envoy-decries-death-sentences-against-kurdish-iranian-political-prisoners/

Iranwire - 10 Jan 2024
<<Tension High in Iran's Baluchestan after Attack on Police
Tension simmered in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan on January 10 following reports of an armed clash near the city of Rask. Local sources described hearing gunfire and explosions near the village of Bidlad Jangal, located roughly two kilometers from Rask, according to Haalvsh, an organization that monitors rights violations in the restive province. Details remain scarce, but initial reports suggest that an armed group attacked a police outpost at dawn. State media said that at least one police officer was killed in the attack. Hours later, the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility through a message on its Telegram channel. The statement claimed the police had suffered <significant losses.> After the clash, the authorities reportedly deployed extra forces to the area and blocked roads leading to the site of the clash. Sistan and Baluchistan has been the scene of similar attacks in the past. Last month, an official told state television that at least 11 police officers were killed in an attack on the police headquarters in Rask. This assault was also claimed by the group Jaish al-Adl. Unrest in Sistan and Baluchistan province has involved drugs-smuggling gangs, Baluch rebels and Sunni extremists. The provincial capital, Zahedan, was the scene of months-long deadly protests that erupted in September last year.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/124208-tension-high-in-irans-baluchestan-after-attack-on-police/

Iranwire - 10 Jan 2024
<<Iranian Man Arrested on Mahsa Anniversary Given Five Minutes to Presents Last Defense
Iranian judiciary authorities have summoned Mehdi Towhidi, a protester arrested on the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death, to court for his final defense. According to a reliable source, Towhidi faces charges of <gathering and collusion to commit a crime against domestic and foreign security,> <facilitating the means to commit a crime,> and <being a member of a group with the intention of disrupting the country's security.> Accompanied by a court-appointed lawyer, the accused was given only five minutes by the prosecutor to present his defense. Towhidi, a 27-year-old resident of Karaj, near Tehran, was arrested on September 15 last year. Previously, a source informed IranWire he had been held in solitary confinement at the Karaj Intelligence Detention Center for 42 days, where he was subjected to pressure to confess to the charges against him.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/prisoners/124202-iranian-man-arrested-on-mahsa-anniversary-given-five-minutes-to-presents-last-defense/


11 political activists

Hengaw Organisation for Human Right - 9 Jan 2024
<<Tehran Court Sentences Eleven Political Activists to 95 Years and 8 Months in Prison
Tehran court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari in Branch 26, handed down a cumulative sentence of 95 years and 8 months, coupled with additional penalties, to eleven political activists residing in Tehran. The individuals sentenced are Fatemeh Haqparast, Arsham Rezaei, Payam Bastani Parisi, Hojatullah Rafei, Mohammadreza Kamraninejad, Vahid Serkhgol, Kazem Alinejad Baranlou, Vahid Qadirzadeh, Maisham Gholami, Ali Asghar Hasani Rad, and Saman Rezaei. According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights on Monday, January 8, 2024, Arsham Rezaei received a 15-year sentence for four charges, Vahid Sarghgol was sentenced to 16 years for three charges, and Kazem Alinejad Baranlou received an 11-year sentence for three charges. Additionally, Maitham Gholami and Vahid Ghadirzadeh received a combined 6 years in prison for two charges, while Ali Asghar Hasani Rad received an 8-year sentence along with 15 lashes for four charges. Saman Rezaei received a 5-year sentence for two charges. Furthermore, Fatemeh Haqparast Sohi was sentenced to 8 months in prison, Payam Bastani Parisi received a 16-year sentence for three charges, Mohammad Reza Kamraninejad was sentenced to 6 years for two charges, and Hojatullah Rafei received a 6-year sentence for two charges. The court also imposed fines, a ban on staying in Tehran and neighboring provinces, a prohibition on joining political, social, and cultural groups, and the confiscation of phones and internet modems seized from the defendants during the initial arrest. Additionally, 93 million Tomans in cash seized during the arrest of Arsham Rezaei and Ali Asghar Hasani Rad were ordered to be transferred to the government fund.
The charges against these constitutionalist political activists include allegations such as <insulting Islam in cyberspace,> <gathering and collusion with the intention of disrupting the security of the country,> <propaganda activity against the government,> and encouraging people to engage in conflict and bloodshed. These political activists, some of whom had faced arrests due to their activities in the past two years, were apprehended by security forces in the fall of the previous year. Subsequently, they were transferred to Evin and Great Tehran Penitentiary.>>
Source:
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2024/01/tehran-court-sentences-eleven-political-activists-to-95-years-and-8-months-in-prison


Mehdi Yarrahi 'Soroode zendegi' (Live's anthem)
Click here to listen to the song

Iranwire - 9 Jan 2024
<<Iranian Protest Singer Yarrahi Sentenced to Prison, Flogging
Mehdi Yarrahi, an Iranian singer who released a song last year criticizing compulsory headscarf rules in the country, has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, as well as 74 lashes, his legal representative says. Lawyer Zahra Minoui announced on January 9 that the sentence was handed down by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. She did not say on which charges her client had been convicted. Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code qualifies Yarrahi for a one-year reduction of Yarrahi's prison term. The flogging sentence sparked harsh criticism from human rights groups, which consider this form of punishment as judicially-sanctioned torture. The country's Islamic Penal Code provides for various corporal punishments, including flogging, amputation, blinding, crucifixion and stoning. Yarrahi was arrested in August last year and later released from custody after a fellow artist posted a 15-billion-toman ($300,000) bond. Yarrahi was arrested following the release of his song Roosarito, or Your Headscarf in English, which was accompanied by a video showing women in various social settings without their mandatory headscarves, some dancing to the music. Yarrahi dedicated the song to the <brave women of Iran who shine courageously at the forefront of the 'Women Life Freedom' movement,> a reference to the monthslong nationwide protests sparked by the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody for an alleged hijab violation. As a protest against the singer's arrest, Iranian social media users posted and shared videos of their own dance performances and renditions of his songs. Artists, political activists and journalists also rallied behind the singer after his jailing.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/124169-iranian-protest-singer-yarrahi-sentenced-to-prison-flogging/

Hengaw Organisation for Human Right - 6 Jan 2024
<<Three Kurdish protesters convicted of <canonical outlawed> an allegation could result in death sentence
In the town of Bukan, three detainees associated with the <Jin, Jian, Azadi> Movement, Kamran Soltani, Mohammad Faraji, and Rauf Sheikhmaroufi, have been accused of <canonically outlawed> by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran. These individuals, arrested during the Jin, Jiyan, Azadi Movement protests last year. According to reports obtained by the Hengaw organization for Human Rights, Kamran Soltani 21 years old, Mohammad Faraji 21 years old, and Rauf Sheikhmaroufi 22 years old, Kurdish residents of Bukan, are at risk of execution with the grave allegations of <canonically outlawed>. Sources indicate that during their interrogations at the Urmia Intelligence Detention Center, these three detainees endured severe physical and psychological torture in an attempt to extract forced confessions. Iranian security forces persistently extend their detentions and exert pressure on these detainees to portray them as involved in the killing of a government official during last year's protests, seeking to impose heavy judicial sentences on these protesters. Rauf Sheikhahmadi was arrested on the evening of Tuesday, December 26, 2022, Mohammad Faraji on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, and Kamran Soltani on February 27, 2023, all brutally assaulted during detention by intelligence agents in Bukan and transferred to the intelligence detention center. These individuals were transferred to Bukan Central Prison on Friday, June 10, 2023, after several months of interrogation and torture in the Urmia Intelligence Detention Center, where they are currently held without specific charges. It is important to note that Mohammad Faraji, initially detained on Sunday, January 14, 2023, and released temporarily on February 2, 2023, was arrested again by security forces just one week after his temporary release. Hengaw had previously reported that, <Urmia Intelligence forces contacted Mr. Mohammad Faraji as an ordinary person with car problems and asking Mr. Faraji to diagnose their vehicle at a specific location. He was immediately detained and located to an unknown location by these forces upon arriving at the given address.> >>
Source:
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2024/01/three-kurdish-protesters-convicted-of-canonical-outlawed-an-allegation-could-result-in-death-sentence

Iranwire - 8 Jan 2024
<<Iranian Woman Who Denounced Son's Arrest Faces Prison Term
An Iranian woman has been handed down a 10-month prison sentence suspended for three years and a fine for protesting against the arrest of her son by intelligence agents, a human rights website reported. HRANA said on January 7 that the Criminal Court in Gorgan found Fereshteh Mahdavi guilty of <disturbing public order and peace.> The court changed a sentence of 50 lashes to a 10 million toman ($200) fine payable to the government. Mahdavi was arrested on September 9 last year, a day after her son Mohammad Reza Shoghi was beaten and taken into custody by intelligence agents. She was held in Gorgan prison until her release on bail in late October. Shoghi was also temporarily released on bail in November after being charged with <gathering and collusion.> The case highlights the ongoing crackdown on dissent in Iran, where individuals face harsh punishments for peacefully expressing their grievances.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/women/124140-iranian-woman-who-denounced-sons-arrest-faces-prison-term/


Nirwana Torbati Nezhad

Hengaw Organisation for Human Right - 8 Jan 2024
<<Gorgan: Nirwana Torbati Nezhad, an Underage Protestor Sentenced to Detention
A teenager identified as Nirwana Torbati Nezhad from Gorgan is sentenced to 10 months of detention and pecuniary punishment by the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.This The arrest took place during the Woman, Life, Freedom (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) movement anniversary in September 2023. According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, 17-year Nirwana Torbati Nezhad from Gorgan was sentenced to 10 years of penal detention and pecuniary punishment of 2 million Iranian Toman under the charges of <propaganda against the government> and <gathering and collusion.> This verdict was issued in the 5th Branch of the Gorgan Criminal Court, presided over by Judge Abedi.
According to a reliable source connected to Nirwana's family, this teenager suffered infections and inflammatory symptoms due to being held in solitary confinement. Nirwana Torbati Nezhad has been blindfoldedly interrogated in clandestine detention centers for up to 5 hours, leading her to pass out on multiple occasions.>>
Source:
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2024/01/gorgan-nirwana-torbati-nezhad-an-underage-protestor-sentenced-to-detention


Roya Heshmati

Hengaw Organisation for Human Right - 6 Jan 2024
<<Implementation of Inhumane Sentence: Kurdish Activist Roya Heshmati Subjected to 74 Lashes in Tehran
The inhumane sentence of 74 lashes for Roya Heshmati, a Kurdish female activist from Sanandaj residing in Tehran, was carried out at the District 7 Prosecutor's Office in Tehran. Violence was employed by officers against Roya Heshmati before administering the flogging due to her removal of the scarf. According to a report received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Wednesday, January 3, 2024, the 74 lashes sentence of 33-year-old Roya Heshmati was executed after she was summoned to the first branch of the District 7 Prosecutor's Office in Tehran. Earlier this year, she was sentenced by the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran to one year of suspended prison, 74 lashes, and a three-year ban from leaving the country. This sentence was imposed due to her act of publishing a photo without the mandatory hijab on Keshavarz Boulevard in Tehran. In her account of the incident, Roya Heshmati revealed that an employee of the sentence execution branch threatened to intensify the flogging and open a new case against her for removing the scarf. She likened the execution site to a <medieval torture chamber.> The activist, who opposes compulsory hijab, detailed how a female officer forcibly placed a scarf on her head and described being flogged on her shoulder, back, buttock, and leg. Roya Heshmati shared her experience, stating: <I didn't count the blows; I was chanting in the name of the woman, in the name of life. The clothes of slavery were torn; our black night dawned; all the whips were axed.> The right to choose one's type of clothing is emphasized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The use of flogging by the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran contradicts international human rights principles, as flogging is considered an inhumane, cruel, and degrading act. Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights explicitly prohibits the implementation of such punishments.
Hengaw has translated Roya Heshmati's article, shared on her Facebook page with the hashtag <Jin, Jiyan, Azadi>, into English, which is presented below:
This morning, I received a call from the sentencing execution office to carry out the 74-lash sentence. I promptly contacted my lawyer, and together we proceeded to the 7th district court. Upon entering, I chose to remove my hijab. Inside the hall, the echoes of a woman's distress emanated from the staircase, possibly indicating her imminent sentence execution. My lawyer advised me, <Roya, reconsider. The repercussions of the lashes will endure for a long time.> We proceeded to the first branch of the sentence execution office. An employee there suggested I put on my headscarf to avoid trouble. Calmly and respectfully, I conveyed that I came specifically for the lashes, and I would not yield. The execution officer was summoned and instructed me to wear the hijab and follow him. Firmly, I stated that I would not wear my hijab. He threatened to whip me severely and open a new case, adding another seventy-four lashes. I maintained my stance and did not wear the hijab. We descended, and they had brought some young men for alcohol-related charges. The man in authority repeated sternly, <Didn't I say wear your hijab?> I did not comply. Two chador-wearing women came and pulled a scarf over my head. I resisted, repeatedly removing it, but they persisted. Handcuffing me from behind, they continued pulling the scarf over my head. We proceeded to the ground floor, using the same stairs where the woman had been taken. A room awaited us at the bottom of the parking lot. The judge, the execution officer, and the chador-wearing woman stood beside me. The woman seemed visibly affected, sighing several times and expressing understanding, saying, <I know. I know.> The judge smiled at me, reminiscent of a character from <Boofe Kur.> I averted my gaze from him. The iron door creaked open, revealing a room with cement walls. At the bottom of the room, there was a bed equipped with handcuffs and iron bands welded to both sides. An iron device resembling a large easel, complete with places for handcuffs and a rusty iron binding in the center, stood in the middle of the room. Additionally, a chair and a small table, hosting an array of flogs, were positioned behind the door. It resembled a fully-equipped medieval torture chamber. The judge inquired, <Are you okay? Do you not have any problems?> As he wasn't talking to me, I remained silent. He then stated, <I am with you, madam!> Once again, I chose not to respond. The executioner instructed me to remove my coat and lie on the bed. I hung my coat and scarf from the base of the torture canvas. He insisted, <Put on your scarf!> I firmly replied that I wouldn't. Put the Quran under your arm and do what you have to do. The woman urged, <Please don't be stubborn.> She brought the scarf and pulled it over my head. The man retrieved a black leather whip from the collection behind the door, wrapping it around his hand twice as he approached the bed. The judge cautioned not to strike too hard. The man commenced hitting my shoulders, back, hips, and legs. I refrained from counting the number of hits. I quietly chanted, <In the name of woman, in the name of life, the clothes of slavery are torn, our black night will dawn, and all the whips will be axed...> The ordeal concluded. I ensured they didn't perceive any pain on my part. We ascended to the judge for sentence execution. A female officer trailed behind, cautious of my scarf. I discarded my scarf at the branch door. She implored me to wear it, but I resisted. Inside the judge's chamber, he acknowledged discomfort with the case but insisted on its implementation. I chose silence. He suggested living abroad for a different life; I affirmed our commitment to resistance, emphasizing the universality of this country. He insisted on legal adherence, and I urged the law to fulfill its role while we persist in our resistance. We exited the room, and I removed my scarf. Gratitude, dear Mr. Tatai, for your companionship, which makes these challenging days more bearable. I extend my apologies for not being an ideal client; I'm confident you'll comprehend. Thank you for everything.>>
Source:
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2024/01/implementation-of-inhumane-sentence-kurdish-activist-roya-heshmati-subjected-to-74-lashes-in-tehran

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