PEN condemns the 16-year sentence handed down to Iranian journalist Narges Mohammadi by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran. Mohammadi’s family was notified of the sentence on May 17, 2016. Mohammadi was sentenced to five years in prison for ‘gathering and colluding with intent to harm national security’, one year in prison for ‘spreading propaganda against the system’ and 10 years for ‘founding and running an illegal organisation’ for her work with Legam, advocating against the death penalty. Under provisions within Iran’s 2013 penal code, a person sentenced to several jail terms is required to serve that with the most severe penalty, meaning that if the sentence is upheld on appeal, she will serve 10 more years in prison. She is already serving a further six-year prison sentence for similar charges.

PEN is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Narges Mohammadi, who is in poor health, as she is imprisoned for her peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression.

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Background Information

Narges Mohammadi is an independent journalist and the former vice-president and spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), which advocates for human rights reform and represents political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in legal proceedings. She is also involved in campaigning against the death penalty in Iran.

Mohammadi has long suffered from persecution at the hands of the Iranian authorities; she has been banned from travelling abroad since 2009, when the authorities confiscated her passport. The following year, Mohammadi was arrested from her home without a warrant and held in connection with her work with the Defenders of Human Rights Center. Immediately following her release on bail on July 1, 2010, Mohammadi was admitted to hospital for treatment.

PEN first began working on her case in 2011 when a Tehran court convicted her of ‘acting against the national security’, ‘membership of the DHRC’ and ‘propaganda against the regime’ for her reporting on human rights violations, cooperation with Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi and visiting political prisoners. She was sentenced to serve a cumulative sentence of 11 years in prison. The sentence was reduced to six years on appeal in January 2012.

On April 21, 2012, Mohammadi was summoned to Evin prison to serve her sentence. She was released on bail on July 30, 2012 following the severe deterioration of her health.

In May 2015, Mohammadi was arrested days after a fresh trial began on charges including ‘spreading propaganda against the system,’ ‘gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security’ and ‘membership of an illegal organisation whose aim is to harm national security’ (Legam - Step by Step to Stop the Death Penalty, an organisation that campaigned against the death penalty in Iran) which had been brought against her in June 2014. At the time of her arrest, intelligence officials are reported to have said that she was being arrested to continue serving her six-year sentence. Her trial was subject to several postponements without any explanation provided by the court.

Mohammadi stood trial on April 20, 2016. According to the Defenders of Human Rights Center, the verdict was communicated to her lawyer on May 17, 2016. Mohammadi was sentenced to five years in prison for ‘gathering and colluding with intent to harm national security’, one year in prison for ‘spreading propaganda against the system’ and 10 years for ‘establishing and running an illegal organisation’ for her work advocating against the death penalty. Under legislation adopted in 2015, a person sentenced to several jail terms is required to serve that with the most severe penalty – in this case, 10 years.

Evidence used against Mohammadi included media interviews she had conducted, her connections to human rights defenders, as well as her activities against the death penalty, including her work with the campaigning group, Step by Step to Stop the Death Penalty. It also included her meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy Catherin Ashton in March 2014.

Before her arrest, Mohammadi told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran: ‘I have been ‘charged’ with every single civil activity I have engaged in since my release from Zanjan Prison in August 2012, such as participating in gatherings on women’s rights, air pollution, and [Rouhani’s] Citizenship Rights Charter. I was also accused of honoring families of political prisoners at meetings, or attending a gathering with Gonabadi Dervishes in front of the Prosecutor’s Office, or giving interviews to media outside Iran. I told them there that when you fit all my civil activities into these two charges, it means that I must remain silent and still.’

Mohammadi suffers from a neurological disorder that can result in seizures, temporary partial paralysis, and pulmonary embolism – a blood clot in her lung. Serious concerns for Mohammadi’s health persist following reports that she suffered several seizures in August and October 2015. According to reports, Mohammadi was taken to hospital on each occasion and on at least one instance she was returned to prison against medical advice. In a subsequent incident she was handcuffed to the bed for the first few days of her hospital stay. According to reports, Mohammadi now faces an additional charge of ‘insulting officers while being transferred to a hospital’ after she filed a complaint with regards to the treatment she experienced at the hands of prison guards when she was transferred to hospital for examinations.

Mohammadi is the mother of eight-year-old twins, and the wife of prominent journalist and activist Taghi Rahmani, who has spent a total of 17 years in prison. Taghi Rahmani left the country in May 2011 following escalating pressure from the authorities. Their children joined him in July 2015. She is an honorary member of Danish PEN and Belgian PEN. In May 2016, she wrote a moving letter to the PEN community, calling on the PEN membership to take a stand against the use of solitary confinement as a means of torture.

Narges Mohammadi was elected as President of the Executive Committee of the National Council of Peace in Iran, a broad coalition against war and for the promotion of human rights. She has campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty in Iran, and is the recipient of both the Alexander Langer Award (2009) and the Per Anger Prize (2011) for her human rights work. She was one of awardees of the 2013 PEN/Oxfam Novib Free Expression Award.

Related

Iran: Journalist Narges Mohammadi due to stand trial on April 20

Write A Letter

Send appeals:

  • Calling on the Iranian authorities to quash all the convictions of journalist Narges Mohammadi and release her immediately and unconditionally as she is imprisoned for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression and association;
  • Expressing grave concern for the health and welfare of Narges Mohammadi, and demanding that she is given all necessary medical attention as a matter of urgency;
  • Urging the authorities to allow Mohammadi regular access to her family, including regular telephone calls to her children who are abroad;
  • Urging them to ensure that the right to freedom of expression in Iran is fully respected in law and practice as provided for under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Iran is a state party.

Send Your Letter To

Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran 
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @khamenei_ir

Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah 
Sadegh Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office Number 4, Deadend of 1 Azizi
Above Pasteur Intersection Vali Asr Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights 
Mohammed Javad Larijani c/o Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave South of Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected] (Subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)

Suggested tweet: @khamenei_ir @HassanRouhani Defending human rights is not a crime - #Iran must release #NargesMohammadi now!

It is recommended that you send a copy of your appeals via the diplomatic representative for Iran in your country. Contact details for embassies can be found here.