May 19, 2016
Narges Mohammadi, a distinguished human rights defender, a supporter of the anti-death penalty campaign Legam (Step by Step to Abolish the Death Penalty) and vice president of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders in Iran, was sentenced by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran which convicted her of several trumped-up national security related offences in connection with her human rights work. The verdict was communicated to her lawyer on 17 May.
“Narges Mohammadi’s sentence is yet another chilling example of Iran’s use of vaguely worded national security charges to crack down on peaceful freedom of expression. There is no doubt that she is being unjustly punished for her steadfast commitment to human rights. The authorities have made clear their ruthless determination to silence human rights defenders and instil fear in would-be critics of their policies,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.
“It is shameful for the Iranian authorities to treat as a criminal a prominent human rights defender who has been lauded as a beacon of hope. It exposes their lip service to human rights as utterly meaningless and shows their deep disdain for the basic principles of justice. Narges Mohammadi is a prisoner of conscience and the Iranian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release her and quash her conviction.”
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