The Observatory has been informed by the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) and by Justice for Iran about the ongoing judicial harassment of Ms. Rezvaneh Mohammadi, a graduate of women’s studies who has been promoting gender equality online and participating in gender equality workshops.

According to the information received, on February 17, 2019, Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolution Court in Tehran held the first hearing in a criminal case against Ms. Rezvaneh Mohammadi on charges of acting against national security through normalising same-sex relations (purportedly under Article 610 of the Islamic Penal Code). Ms. Mohammadi’s lawyer was not allowed to defend her and was denied access to the court file.

After her arrest on September 3, 2018 (see background information), Ms. Rezvaneh Mohammadi was kept in solitary confinement and interrogated for 26 days in the notorious Ward 209 [1] of Tehran’s Evin prison, before being transferred to a women’s dormitory ward on September 29, 2018. She was released on bail on October 20, 2018, upon deposit of 1,500,000,000 Iranian Rials (approximately 11,000 Euros).

The Observatory recalls that Ms. Rezvaneh Mohammadi’s arrest is part of a broader crackdown against gender rights activists by Iran’s security forces. For example, Ms. Maryam Azad [2], an LGBTI rights activist from the city of Shiraz, Fars Province, was arrested on September 25, 2018, when she attempted to board a flight at Tehran airport bound for Turkey. Read more via FIDH