IRAN NEWS))))))

Fatemeh Bagherzadeh, a member of the PMOI’s Central Council, passed away at a hospital in Germany on September 1, 2023. Born in 1947 in Mashhad, she was affectionately known as Nosrat. She was a humble and selfless woman who dedicated her life and resources to the cause of Iran’s freedom. https://tinyurl.com/bdhb28dw

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The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement today, on September 1, 2023, in which a group of UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts slammed Iran’s draft Hijab law. The experts said the bill could amount to “Gender Apartheid.” They expressed concern that the new Hijab law in Iran sanctions new punishments for women and girls who fail to wear the headscarf, or hijab, in public. “The draft law could be described as a form of gender apartheid, as authorities appear to be governing through systemic discrimination with the intention of suppressing women and girls into total submission,” the UN human rights experts said. https://tinyurl.com/4k4dw5dm

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Maryam Ameri, an Iranian Arab cultural activist, was arrested and detained by security forces in Ahvaz during a raid on her residence. Ms. Ameri collects Arab stories, lullabies, and songs from villages. Maryam Ameri had been previously arrested on December 10, 2020, in a similar manner when intelligence forces raided her residence. She was temporarily released on bail after a month of detention.

Security forces broke into the residence of Nazila Maroofian a 23 year old Journalist in Tehran-Iran on Wednesday morning, August 30, and violently took her away. The prosecutor has set a bail of 2 billion Tomans for her temporary release. https://tinyurl.com/mr2e9pea

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Political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared has received additional sentences based on new cases filed against her by the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence. Branch 101 of the Criminal Court of Semnan sentenced Mrs. Akbari Monfared in absentia to 2 additional years in jail and 150 million rials in fines for “disseminating falsities in social media.”

Two new cases had been filed against Maryam Akbari Monfared by the Ministry of Intelligence. The first case concerned her time in Evin Prison, which accused her of disseminating “propaganda against the state.” The second case concerned her time in the Prison of Semnan for which she is accused of insulting Khamenei, propaganda against the state, assembly and collusion, disseminating falsities and disrupting public opinion, and inciting people against national and external security. The last case concerns the letters published in social media in the name of Maryam Akbari Monfared. It is reiterated in the verdict that the Ministry of Intelligence is the complainant in this case. The new sentences are handed down while Mrs. Akbari Monfared has served almost 14 years of her 15-year sentence. Usually, prisoners are released after serving two-thirds of their prison term, but this is not the case for Maryam Akbari Monfared. https://tinyurl.com/d84p42n7

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The Iranian regime's parliament adopted a bill on Sunday Aug. 20, which obliges the Iranian Bar Association to comply with the decisions of a delegation in charge of regulations. On the other hand, the parliament granted the authority to revoke the decisions of this delegation to the Ministry of Economy. Whereas, previously, such authority belonged to the Supreme Administrative Court of Justice.

Simultaneous with the press conference of the Spokesman for the Guardian Council, the executive board of SKODA(The National Union of Bar Associations of Iran- a non-governmental organization) and the presidents and members of the executive board of Iranian bar associations, as well as a group of Iranian lawyers from all over the country, held a peaceful rally outside the Guardian Council in Tehran, on Saturday morning, August 26. The protestors believe that the bill adopted by the parliament will lead to the dependence of the Bar Association on the government and undermine the independence of the Bar Association. The demonstrators demanded that the Guardian Council reject the ratified bill. https://tinyurl.com/2h99b4rx