Five female political prisoners in Iran have had their prison sentences extended for protesting the execution of Reza Rasai, a detained protester from the 2022 protests, on August 6, 2024.
Varisheh Moradi, Pakhshan Azizi, Mahboubeh Rezaei, Narges Mohammadi, prisoners in Evin Prison, have been sentenced to 6 months each in a newly opened case. According to a ruling by Branch 2 of the Criminal Court at the Qods Judicial Complex in Tehran, overseen by Judge Abolfazl Ameri Shahrabi, the verdict was communicated to the prisoners on Saturday, October 19.
Parivash Moslemi, also held in Evin Prison, was sentenced to three months and one day for ‘resisting and assaulting an officer.’ She was acquitted of the charge of ‘disturbing prison order,’ while the other defendants were acquitted of ‘damaging property.’
As a result of the protest on August 2024, several of the female prisoners, including these individuals, were denied phone calls and family visits.
This action has been used as a tool of further pressure against political prisoners, to punish and isolate them from protest activities inside the prison. These restrictions are part of a wider repression that is used to control and silence the voices of the opposition inside the prisons.
These unjust sentences are a flagrant violation of women’s rights and trample international law.
