Sunday, May 28, 2017

NEWS))))))


Iran: A group of women staged a protest in front of the Governor’s Building in Mashhad on Friday, May 26. The women who have deposited money in the Caspian Depository Institute, demanded determination of the status of their deposits as the company has declared bankruptcy. A Number of the women participated in the protest were wearing white shrouds. Also a group of women including teachers working on temporary contracts who had deposited money in the Caspian Depository Institute, gathered outside the Iranian parliament in Tehran to express their protest. The depositors were outraged at Caspian Institute’s failure to pay back their deposits. The contract teachers also demanded determination of their employment status and payment of their salaries and stipend by the Education Ministry.

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According to State-run Rokna news agency May 27, In the third week of May, three women lost their lives in northern Iran.
In Chalus, a 23-year-old woman was killed in a case of domestic violence by her husband. In Lahijan, a middle-aged woman was strangled by her brother and her body was abandoned in the forest. In Kelardasht, a 30-year-old woman lost her life after she fell into Sardabrood river. The cause of the accident is not known yet. The names and identities of these women have not been revealed by the state-run media.

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The State-run ISNA reported on May 25th that the State Security Force (SSF) issued an official statement on the eve of the Holy month of Ramadan, threatening Iranian women with arrests and imprisonments. “It is expected that everyone observes moral values, particularly chastity and veiling, more carefully in public places… Obviously, those few people who conspicuously break the norms are going to be dealt with legally,” the SSF said in its statement. During the month of Ramadan the believers do not eat, drink or smoke from sunrise to sunset. Eating, drinking or smoking during Ramadan in public in Iran is punishable by regime's law.

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Two female activist were condemned to jail sentences on May 24, by the Iranian regime's Court in Dezful. Ashraf Rahimkhani and Zeinab Keshvari, worked as managers in the Mother House of Books (Ketabsaray-e Madar) in Dezful, in the southwestern province of Khuzestan south of Iran. The two were sentenced, respectively, to one year and three months of imprisonment for engagement in propaganda against the state. The sentence could be bought by payment of fine.

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The scene of the violent arrest of a young Iranian woman by the State Security Force has been recently published on the social media. The video clip shows State Security Force agents pushing a screaming young woman into their car. The girl screams, “Open my handcuff! You bloodied my mouth! We didn't do anything; we just took a taxi. What did we do wrong?” The SSF agents did not heed her cries and shoved her into the car without any explanations, just threatening to confront her with the complainant once she gets to the police station.

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Amnesty international issued an Urgent Action statement on May 23, on the health condition of the Iranian political prisoner Atena Daemi. AI reiterated that her condition has sharply deteriorated. AI statement reads in part : “The health of Iranian women’s rights activist, Atena Daemi, has sharply deteriorated. After 46 days on hunger strike, she is critically ill and her body has started rejecting water. Despite doctors’ warnings, the authorities are still refusing to transfer her to a hospital outside prison for specialist medical care...
“Atena Daemi, who has been sentenced to seven years in prison for her peaceful human rights activities, began her hunger strike on April 8 in protest at the suspended prison sentences imposed on her sisters Hanieh and Ensieh for ‘insulting public officers on duty.’

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Asma Poursalimi, a young woman arrested in Orumiyeh city, in Iran's West Azerbaijan province, has been lingering in prison over the past few months in an undecided status without receiving any verdicts. As the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has filed the complaint against her, she is facing charges such as Moharebeh (war against God) and membership in Kurdish parties. According to a source close to Asma’s family, the final judgment would be probably made based on communications with the IRGC counter-intelligence since she has not had access to legal council.

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According to State-run Parsineh website May 23rd, a young woman dressed in boys' outfit was arrested by security forces in Tehran's Azadi Stadium during a Soccer match between Esteghlal and Al-Ein teams. Women and girls are not allowed to enter sports stadiums in Iran.


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According to Women committee of National Council of Resistance of Iran, six women and some 50 men were arrested in gatherings held in different parts of Tehran, Iran's capital city on Tuesday, May 16, 2017. The six arrested women were interrogated at the detention center on Vozara Ave. It is not clear why these people were arrested. The women have been identified as Elham Nazari, 30, Sahar Abdolrezaii, 29, Saeedeh Abdolrezaii, 28, Fatemeh Makrkhooy, 49, Soolmar Hosseini Zadeh, 35, and Fatemeh Bagheri, 19 who according to eye witnesses,  were beaten up by security forces who also used pepper spray and tear gas while making the arrests. The women were initially taken to the notorious ward 209 of Evin Prison. They were separately interrogated on May 20, and subsequently released.