The Harm

Suspended lashing for Iranian feminist

tehran • Iran has handed a feminist a suspended sentence of 10 lashes and six months in prison, the Kargozaran newspaper reported yesterday, in the fourth such punishment for a women’s rights activist in Iran within weeks.

The sentence for Rezvan Moghadam imposed by Tehran’s revolutionary tribunal is suspended for three years, meaning it will be implemented if she repeats the stated offence within that time.

Moghadam was arrested along with 32 other women activists in front of Tehran’s revolutionary tribunal in March 2007, where five feminists were being tried for taking part in a demonstration in June 2006.

The exact nature of the charges against her was not made clear.

In recent weeks the court has handed three other women’s rights activists — Nahid Jafari, Nasrin Afzali and Marzieh Mortazi Langueroudi — identical suspended sentences for taking part in the same 2007 demonstration.

Iran has exerted mounting pressure on women’s rights advocates, and in recent months several have been arrested for calling for changes to Iranian laws or for taking part in public protests.

The activists have been promoting the “one million signature” campaign backed by Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi — an attempt to change Iranian laws that discriminate against women by collecting signatures online and in person.

The five feminists tried in March 2007 were accused of acting against national security for the June 2006 demonstration in Tehran’s Haft-e Tir square, where 70 people were arrested amid allegations of police brutality.

Protesters demanded equal rights for women in marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody.

A feminist gets 10 lashes and 6 months in jail for wanting rights for woman.