17th January 2024 - The clerical regime continues to arrest and imprison freedom-loving rights activists, sentencing them to unjust prison sentences and heavy fines to fill the regime’s pockets. In recent weeks, women have been subject to unjust incarcerations and cruel punishments.

Nirvana Torbati-Nejad

In the first week of January, the regime’s courts sentenced at least 4 female activists, the youngest being 16-year-old Nirvana Torbati-Nejad, sentenced to ten months of imprisonment on charges of membership in a groups opposing the regime aiming to disrupt the country’s security. She was also fined two million Tomans on charges on  “assembly and collusion to commit crime against internal security.”

Niloufar Sadat Hashemian

Lawyer, Niloufar Sadat Hashemian, was among dozens of Iranian citizens apprehended for commenting on the explosions in the city of Kerman near the burial site of Qasem Soleimani which left dozens of civilians dead.

Qasem Soleimani was the commander of the terrorist Quds Force, the extraterritorial branch of the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He was killed in Iraq on January 3, 2020, in a strike by the US. 

Niloufar Sadat Hashemian wrote in her personal Instagram account, “When he was alive, he expended the country’s resources on warmongering in the region. Several people lost their lives during his funeral. To avenge him, a passenger airliner was targeted. His statue also brought harm to the country. Now, a significant number of people have lost their lives on the anniversary. What an ominous figure Qasem Soleimani was.” The individuals taken into custody encompass a range of professionals, including pediatricians and university professors.

 Maryam Akbari Monfared

After 15 years behind bars, Iranian political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared has been sentenced to an additional three years of imprisonment by the Semnan Province Criminal
Court. Ms. Akbari Monfared, a 48-year-old mother of three, has been charged with “propaganda against the regime,” “collusion and conspiracy against national security,” and “insulting” the regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

Ms. Akbari Monfared, who lost three brothers and a sister during the 1980s, including in the mass execution of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988, was arrested in 2009 and sentenced by the Revolutionary Court to 15 years in prison on charges such as “enmity against god,” and “acting against national security.”

Following Maryam Akbari Monfared’s complaint in 2016, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances recognized her sister and brother, Roghiyeh and Abdolreza Monfared, in the “list of enforced disappearances” and demanded an explanation from the Iranian government regarding their fate.

 Roya Heshmati

A woman named Roya Heshmati in Iran was whipped 74 times by the police for “violating public morals” by sharing a picture in which her head was not covered. The incident sparked outrage among many people, including activists and political commentators, who condemned the “inhumane” punishment. 

Ms Heshmati, 23, a vocal critic of the country’s controversial hijab laws, was arrested in April 2023 from her home in Tehran for sharing her picture of her back dressed in a red shirt and a knee-length black skirt while walking in the street without a headcover. Her punishment was carried out on Wednesday 3 rd of January and she was held in custody for 11 days.

 Farzaneh Barzekar

Ms. Farzaneh Barzekar, mother of the slain 2022 protester Erfan Rezaii, was sentenced to a 24- month prison term. The charges against her included “insulting” Ali Khamenei, the mullahs’ leader, and disseminating “propaganda against the state.” Farzaneh Barzekar is the mother of Erfan Rezaii, a 21-year-old who was slain at the hands of security forces in Amol, during protests on September 21, 2022.