According to State-run ILNA news
agency May 23rd, on one of the largest annual charity events in
Qazvin Province in Iran, female musicians were banned from playing in and were
not allowed even to sit among the audience. Many musicians left the auditorium
in protest. This insult was done by the order of the president of the Azad University
of Qazvin, Moussa Khani.
On May 17, a female singer named
Negar Mo’azzam was placed under surveillance by the Prosecutor’s Office of
Isfahan Province in Iran for her solo singing during a sightseeing tour to the
historical village of Abyaneh.
Since the mullahs took power in
Iran in 1979, women have been banned from singing in public and their
performances have always been censored. The Iranian regime also has banned
music instruments from showing in Television or state-run concerts. The
instruments with players are always behind curtains or deviders.
******
A judiciary official announced on
May 23, that 30 women and men had been arrested in a
private Yoga class in Gorgan-Iran. Massoud
Solaimani, from the Justice Department of Golestan Province, said, “Someone had
run an ad on his Instagram account recruiting students for a Yoga class at his
home. Solaimani said the reason for these arbitrary arrests was “improper
clothing of women and men in this house.”
Solaimani stressed that the Iranian
regime monitors the slightest details of their citizens’ private lives. He
said, “Those who break the law take advantage of a lack of monitoring of the
cyber space, and undertake criminal measures.” (The state-run Asr-Iran website
– May 23, 2019)
In another report from Sanandaj,
active members of Nojin cultural association, including a woman by the name of
Zahra Mohammadi, were arrested by agents of the Intelligence Department of
Sanandaj and taken to an unknown location.
******
One week after the adoption of the
bill on punishment for acid attacks, the proposal to limit sale and purchase of
acid was rejected by the Judicial Committee of the Iranian regime’s parliament.
In October 2014, a wave of acid attacks was carried out against women in Tehran
and Isfahan after incitement by Friday prayer leaders and took toll on dozens
of women. The assailants were never arrested and punished, and acid attack
became a common practice for personal revenge. Finally, on May 13, the plan on
punishment for acid attacks and giving support to the victims was adopted by
the regime’s parliament. The next week, on May 20, the plan for punishment of
those who assist in acid attacks was also adopted, without taking any measures
to limit sale of acid.
The person who commits the crime of
splashing acid is sentenced to execution or retribution in kind. The
accomplices in this crime are sentenced to imprisonment between 5 and 25 years.
According to this bill, if the assailants are not arrested, the government must
pay compensations to the victims but when the assailant is arrested, the victim
has the right to ask for retribution. (The official IRNA news agency – May 20,
2019)
******
On Tuesday, May 21, a large number
of Iranian retired teachers and staff of the Education Ministry gathered
outside the Ministry of Education to protest the ministry’s failure to meet
their demands and pay them their dues.
On the same day, a group of
defrauded investors of the IRGC-backed Caspian financial institute in Tehran-Iran
gathered outside the President’s office in Tehran to protest the plunder of
their properties and assets. The gathering was held outside the Horr Metro
Station across from Rouhani’s office. The protesters accused the government of
betraying them by plundering their deposits.
A group of nurses and workers of
Karaj Hospital once again held a gathering on Tuesday, May 21, to protest
non-payment of their salaries. They gathered outside the hospital and chanted
against the governor and the mayor who do not care to respond to the needs of
the hospital staff and nurses.
On Monday, May 20, a group of
citizens with disabilities gathered in protest in the province of Yazd outside
the General Department of Welfare in this province. The protesters said none of
their demands have been met and they do not receive any medical and
rehabilitation services from the government. And none of the relevant officials
in the government has attended to their inquiries.
******
On Thursday, May 16, the Iranian
regime’s security forces attacked Koolan Village near Marivan and arrested at
least 7 civil activists, including 3 Kurdish women who had protested the murder
of a woman in that area. The three Kurdish women are Daiman Fat’hi, Somayyeh
Roozbeh and Mojdeh Mardokhi.
On this day, civil
activists in Marivan had planned to gather at the village’s cemetery
by the grave of the victim, Nermin Vatankhah, who had been earlier killed in
Marivan.
In addition to the
arrests, security forces prevented the gathering. After the raid, the civil
activists moved to the Behesht-e-Mostafa cemetery, also in Marivan, and held
their gathering and memorial service there.
Other reports indicate
that on Saturday, May 18, 2019, a few days after the arrest of the three
Kurdish civil activists, Somayyeh Roozbeh and Daiman Fat’hi, were charged with
“disrupting the public order” at branch 4 of Marivan’s Public Court. They were
supposed to be transferred to the Rehabilitation Center of Sanandaj but one of
their lawyers insisted and succeeded to prevent the measure.
On May 14, another Kurdish woman,
Iran Rah-Paykar, was arrested by the Iranian regime’s intelligence agents in
Marivan. Iran, 33, was arrested upon return from the Iraqi Kurdistan and was
transferred to the detention center of the Department of Intelligence in
Sanandaj.
In other
developments, Nahid Shaqaqi, a women’s rights activist, was transferred to
the Intelligence Ministry’s detention center at ward 209 of Evin Prison (in
Tehran) and is presently under interrogation.
Another women’s rights
activist, Akram Nasirian, who was under interrogation in solitary confinement
at Ward 209 was recently transferred to a cell for two. She is charged with
disrupting the public opinion and encouraging women to shun their veils.
