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JINA MAHSA AMINI
The face of Iran's protests. Her life, her dreams
and her death.
In memory of Jina 'Mahsa' Amini, the cornerstone of the 'Zan.
Zendagi. Azadi revolution.
16 February 2023 | By Gino d'Artali
And also
Read all about the assasination of the 22 year young Jhina Mahsa
Amini or Zhina Mahsa Amini (Kurdistan-Iran) and the start of the Zan,
Zendagi, Azadi (Women, life, freedom) revolution in Iran
2022
and the latest news about the 'Women Live Freedom' Revolution per month in 2023:
August 15 - 1
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July 31 - 16
--July 15 -1--June
30 - 15--June 15-1--May 31 -16--
May 15-1--April--March--Feb--Jan
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For all topics below
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'THE NO-HIJABIS
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'BLINDING |
CLICK HERE ON HOW TO READ ALL ON THIS PAGE
Here we are to enter THE IRANIAN
WOMEN'S REVOLUTIONISTS against
'Facing Faces and
Facts 1-2' (2022) to commemorate the above named and more and food for
thought and inspiration to fight on.
Dear reader, from here on the 'Woman,
Life, Freedom' pages menu will look a bit different and this
to avoid too many pop-ups ,meaning the underlined period
in yellow tells you in what period you are and click on another
underlinded period to go there. If you dissagree about any change feel more than free to let me know what you
think at
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2-weekly opinion by Gino d'Artali: |
When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi
figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da
qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so
called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.
Iranwire - July 31, 2023 by KIAN SABETI
<<Fariba Kamalabadi and Mahvash Sabet: A Year in Detention and
Counting
In a coordinated and organized operation on July 31, 2022, agents
of the Intelligence Ministry raided the homes of tens of Baha'is in
cities across Iran and arrested a number of Baha'is including Mahvash
Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, two women who had already spend a decade in
jail. In a statement issued the day after the arrests, the Intelligence
Ministry claimed that it had arrested <members of the central cadre of
the Baha'i espionage party> and accused them, among other things, of <participating
in groups to act against national security through teaching and
preaching the Baha'i faith to children in kindergartens, [and] agitating
against Islamic Sharia through holding coaching courses.> In the days
and months after the raids, all detainees were released on bail, except
Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, and they have been in detention for
a year now.
Kamalabadi and Sabet (Shahriari) are two former members of the <Yaran>
of Iran (<Friends>), the informal Baha'i leadership group that for
almost 20 years looked after the Iranian Baha’i community and with the
full knowledge of the Islamic Republic’s Intelligence Ministry. Then, in
2008, members of this group were suddenly arrested by President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's Intelligence Ministry and the group was disbanded. Since
then, no person or group has replaced the work of the former Yaran and
the Baha'is manage their affairs, such as educating their children as
well as weddings and funerals, by consulting and cooperating with each
other. In 2006, Fariba Kamalabadi, who has a master's degree in
educational psychology, and Mahvash Sabet, also an educator, and who had
been expelled from her job as a teacher because of her faith, were asked
to assist as members of the Yaran by the Iranian Baha'i community. On
March 5, 2008, Mahvash Sabet was the first of the seven to be arrested
while visiting Mashhad and was later transferred to Evin Prison in
Tehran. The other six were arrested on May 14, 2008, at their homes in
Tehran. The seven Baha'is were placed in solitary confinement for months
and spent a year behind bars without access to legal counsel. In 2010,
they were tried and convicted of charges of <espionage> and <spreading
propaganda against the regime.> They were each sentenced to 20 years in
prison, the longest of any current prisoner of conscience in Iran. In
early 2016, the seven Baha'is were informed that, based on a new law,
their sentences had been reduced from 20 years to 10 years and they were
released in 2017. During his imprisonment, Mahvash Sabet spent most of
her time reading and composing poetry. The government does not allow her
to publish her poetry in Iran but her books Free, Love Story, and You
Remember Me have been published abroad. Selections of her poetry titled
Prison Poems have been translated into English and have been
well-received by readers worldwide.
In 2017, Sabet was recognized as an International Writer of
Courage by PEN International, the literary freedom of expression group,
and also received a prestigious literary award in Norway. She was made
an honorary member of PEN in Austria and Denmark. When Fariba Kamalabadi
was arrested, her daughter was still going to school but, on the day
that she was released, her daughter had become a mother. Fariba, who
could not have been a mother to her own daughter, instead spent time
with her grandchild after her release.
Arrested Again
On July 31, 2022, Fariba Kamalabadi and Mahvash Sabet were
arrested again by security agents who raided the homes of many Baha'is
across the country. The detainees were taken to solitary confinement in
Ward 209 of Evin Prison but when the Woman, Life, Freedom movement began,
prisons in Iran were filled with protesters, and the authorities were
forced to hold several detainees in individual solitary confinement
cells. In discussions with her family during visitations, Fariba has
said that, due to a lack of space, they had to put their feet on the
wall when they wanted to sleep at night.
The Trial of Fariba and Mahvash
On November 21, the new trial of Fariba Kamalabadi and Mahvash
Sabet was held at Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over
by Judge Iman Afshari. They had been scheduled to be tried separately
but the proceedings were delayed so they were tried at the same time.
The two Baha'i women were once again sentenced to 10 years in prison
each, after a one-hour trial, during which the judge spent most of the
time insulting the defendants for managing the Baha'i community in Iran.
Kamalabadi and Sabet were sentenced on charges for which no evidence was
presented nor witnesses were heard. Judge Afshari scolded the two,
saying that they had not learned from their previous imprisonment. The
verdict was based on a charge that had no merit, because the Yaran was
disbanded in 2008 and, since then, no individual or group has been the
formal or informal leader of the Baha'i community in Iran. Both
Kamalabadi and Sabet denied that they were members of any new leadership
group.
Transfer to Women's Ward
After the trial, Kamalabadi was transferred to the women's ward
for political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. Sabet was kept at
Ward 209 and transferred to the women's ward after 40 days, during which
time nobody knew what had happened to her. In April 2023, in an audio
file received by IranWire, Faezeh Hashemi, a political activist and
daughter of late President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, herself jailed in
Evin but briefly released on a leave of absence, spoke about her
cellmates. <Mahvash recounts that during an interrogation the
interrogator kicked the chair from under her and, since she was facing
the wall, her knees hit the wall. Now, they have X-rayed her in prison
and told her that the bones in her knees are broken. She is in such a
condition, 70 years old, innocent and in prison only because she is a
Baha'i,> Hashemi said in the recording. People close to Fariba and
Mahvash believe that the delay in transferring Mahvash to the women's
ward was most likely because of her broken knees, since interrogators
wanted to keep it a secret and kept her in solitary confinement until
she could walk. According to Negar Sabet, Mahvash's daughter, her
mother's arrest took place while both her parents were recovering from
severe covid and seeking care at a friend's house in the north of the
country. The reason for the delay in transferring her to the women's
ward was also due to her poor physical condition because of the lack of
medical care.
<How to Save Iran?>
In April 2023, more than 40 political, social and human rights
activists inside and outside Iran, some from inside the Islamic
Republic's prisons, joined a virtual seminar to try to answer the
question: How to save Iran? Kamalabadi and Sabet were among the
prisoners who sent a written note to this symposium that was held on the
Clubhouse app. <Our dear country is currently faced with far-reaching
and complicated social, economic, cultural, educational, political and
moral problems,> they wrote in their message. <In such a rich country,
such rampant poverty, widespread deprivations, inflation and recession,
air pollution and the destruction of the environment and egregious class
divisions cannot be justified in any way. Bigotry and discrimination are
hurting all people regardless of gender, ethnicity, language and
religion.> They expressed the hope that <next to all this mess and these
restrictions and deprivations, the awareness of Iranian people has
reached a new height, higher than ever, and has led to a unity in
beliefs and views and, relatively speaking, to an agreement on what
methods to use. Witness various protests that have recently taken place
based on clear and vital demands.> The message ends with this
pronouncement: <We deeply respect the diversity in this great land of
Iran and among our compatriots. We value this diversity under the
unifying tent of our land and we see our great country of Iran as a
flower garden, with flowers in every color, and believe that this
variety makes it more beautiful. Serving our country is not only our
duty but our right.> After this message was published, both women were
barred from receiving visitors or using their phones for three weeks.
Living in Legal Limbo
The lower court issued its verdicts against Kamalabadi and Sabet
eight months ago but the court of appeals has yet to schedule a new
trial. In the first few months, judiciary officials claimed that they
have <lost> their case files - but in recent months they have said the
files have been found and the case awaits its turn. Nevertheless, their
lawyers are still barred from communicating with their clients and are
not allowed to access their case files. Sabet's daughter Negar says that
her mother needs medical treatment outside prison. The court did not
accept the medical certificate saying that Sabet, a 70-year-old woman,
cannot endure imprisonment and needs constant medical care. The
certificate covered the illnesses that she suffered from before her
arrest. Her broken knees have not healed completely and this has made
her condition worse. The court of appeals has yet to issue a verdict,
meanwhile, so while the verdict against her is not final, the court has
refused to grant Sabet medical leave on bail. <My mother is in poor
health due to her old age and her previous imprisonment, which has
weakened her physically,> Negar Sabet says. <She suffers from severe
asthma, as well as bone pain and bone tuberculosis, which are
complications from her previous imprisonment.> <Perhaps this might seem
trivial but for me, as a mother, it is important that my mother see her
granddaughter, my daughter,> she adds. <It has been a year since my
mother last saw her granddaughter. Soon my daughter will turn two and,
considering how children grow and change at this age, my mother has no
idea how she now looks. It is my mother's right to see my daughter and
to express her love to her. I hope they will allow my mother to see her
granddaughter through FaceTime or some other way.> >>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/bahais-of-iran/119040-fariba-kamalabadi-and-mahvash-sabet-a-year-in-detention-and-counting/
Liberation Front 2019/cryfreedom.net 2023