178 lashes and 18 months in prison for not wearing a hijab: Iranian authorities sentence local activist
Kyiv • UNN
Iranian activist Hamideh Zarei has been sentenced to 178 lashes and 18 months in prison for not wearing a hijab. The activist's problems with the authorities began in 2022.
Iranian activist and former political prisoner Hamideh Zarei has been sentenced to 178 lashes and 18 months in prison for not wearing a mandatory hijab. This was reported by UNN with reference to the Dailymail.
Details
Activist Hamideh Zarei's problems with the Iranian authorities have been going on since 2022. Zarei was first arrested in Karaj on May 29, 2023 and imprisoned in Kachuei Prison until her release on February 22, 2024. She was then banned from traveling, acting on social media for two years and deported to Rasht.
Zarei's first known arrest took place on November 3, 2022, when she was detained for attending a memorial marking the 40th day of the assassination of Hadis Najafi, a young woman shot dead by security forces during the 2022 protests. The Karaj Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Musa Asafolhosseini, sentenced her to one year in prison for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran." The woman was imprisoned in Kachuei Prison before being released on February 7, 2024 under the so-called amnesty directive.
In June last year, she was arrested after being summoned to the Rasht court and sent to Lakan prison, only to be released on June 10 after securing a court order.
This year, the trial of a graduate student at Tehran University began on February 3, when she appeared in the public and revolutionary prosecutor's office in Rasht as part of a sentence of forced residence.
Zarei spent 29 days in custody in Rasht Central Prison, and was released on March 3, according to a report by the Hengaw Human Rights Organization. It is reported that while in custody, the activist was physically assaulted by two employees of the Rasht Prosecutor's Office's security department, causing wrist injuries and severe bruising.
Latest verdict
Immediately after her release from prison, the activist was detained for not wearing a mandatory hijab, which led to new charges. The new sentence includes nine months in prison and 74 lashes for "disturbing public order", nine months for "resisting law enforcement officers", 74 lashes for "insulting an officer in the performance of his duties" and 30 lashes for "causing invisible bodily harm". After the verdict, the sentence was reduced to nine months.
