Relatives of Giti Pourfazel, a lawyer and one of the signatories of the statement calling for the resignation of Surpreme Leader Ali Khamenei, reported that she has, once again, been detained. The lawyer who had gone to collect her confiscated laptop from the authorities, was re-arrested without warning and transferred to Tehran’s Evin Prison on Sunday, September 7, to serve her 27-month prison sentence.
In early August 2019, 14 women activists issued a statement calling for Khamenei’s resignation from the leadership and “transition from the Islamic Republic.” Ms. Pourfazel was arrested a few short weeks after the statement was issued and was detained in Evin Prison until late November.
Earlier, 14 other Iranian civil and political activists issued similar statements, following which the Islamic regime’s authorities arrested and sentenced them to prison as well.
Ms. Pourfazel was originally sentenced by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, to four years and two months in prison on two counts of “conspiracy and conspiracy against national security” and “propaganda against the regime,” but her sentence was reduced during the appeal process, to two years and three months to be served as a suspended term. Now however, Ms. Pourfazel’s re-arrest means that she will likely be forced to serve the term.
In their brave statement, the 14 women activists wrote: “Against this misogynist regime that has erased our human values, we stand up and demand a complete transition from the Islamic Republic to a new constitution.”
They added that “through civil action and non-violence”, they will continue their struggle by saying “no to the Islamic Regime”.
Other signatories to the statement who have been sentenced to prison include Fatemeh Sepehri (six years in prison), Narges Mansouri (six years), Shahla Jahanbin, Zahra Jamali and Shahla Entesari (27 months in prison each).
