Monday, March 03, 2014

Seven Years Prison for Iranian Student, Maryam Shafiipour

Maryam Shafiipour
Iranian female student activist, Maryam Shafipour has become the first Iranian student to be sentenced to long term prison for political activism since Rouhani became the president of the Islamic Republic.

Maryam Shafipour was an active member of Karroubi's Women's Committee election campaign team. She received a suspended sentence in 2010 on usual charges of "spreading propaganda against the 'holy establishment' of the Islamic Republic" and was banned from continuing her higher education. 

In July, 2013, Maryam was detained again and spent 60 days in solitary confinement with no access to a lawyer. 

Yesterday she received a seven year sentence by the notorious judge Salavati after seven months of being interrogated in prison and refusing to repent for her peaceful activism. 

Amnesty international issued this statement on Maryam's plight in January this year:
Jack Straw and Lord LeMont may have the impression that things have changed in Iran and "Tehran resembles any European city like Madrid", but the truth is despite the nice shop front window for the outside world, its business as usual inside the shop.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow. It is absolutely appalling seeing the direction that Iran is going to. Before the Islamic Regime, the Shah wanted freedom and equality for everyone, even women. Since the Islamic regime has taken over, the impact is has had on women is detrimental. For example, criminal responsibility starts for girls at the age of 8, whereas for boys, it starts at age 15. Dress codes are unequal, and not to mention the fact that in Islamic law, a woman is considered half of a man. In many cases that adultery is committed, it has been recorded that women have been punished at a much higher rate than men. Fathers are allowed to marry off their daughters even if she is an adult. The way that women are portrayed in Iran is ridiculous and the oppression the Islamic regime has imprinted on the youth is ridiculous. Although attempted before, I hope that one day the youth of Iran will successfully be able to speak out against the government to achieve a regime that is more suitable and less oppressive towards the progression of society. Iran is truly a beautiful country with the majority of the population being the youth, so why must this oppression keep on?