Iranian of the Day

Change for Equality: Four members of the One Million Signatures Campaign have been sentenced to serve a six months mandatory prison term. Parvin Ardalan (top left), Maryam Hosseinkhah (top right), Nahid Keshavarz (bottom right) and Jelveh Javaheri were charged with security charges in relation to their activities on the site of Change for Equality the official site of the Campaign and Zanestan the webzine of the Women’s Cultural Center [see Reuters report]. The six-month mandatory sentence was issued by the 13th branch of the Revolutionary Courts and based on Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code. Shirin Ebadi the lawyer representing these women’s rights activists announced that: "you cannot sentence anyone based on the crime of expression of their opinion." She went on the say that they will appeal the sentence. Maryam Hosseinkhah was arrested in November 2007 and served 45 days in prison in relation to this case and Jelveh Javaheri was arrested in December and served 30 days in relation this case. Also: In a ruling handed down by Branch 54 of the Appeals Court in the case of Amir Yaghoub-Ali, this student and equal rights defenders, has been sentenced to a one year suspended sentence for the period of four years. During these four years, Amir is required to report to the local branch of the Intelligence Ministry every four months. If he is found guilty by the courts of another crime, during the course of the four years, the serving of the suspended sentence becomes mandatory. Amir Yaghoub-Ali was arrested in July 2007 while collecting signatures in support of the Campaign’s petition in Andisheh Park in Tehran and subsequently spent 29 days in Section 209 of Evin Prison, managed by the Intelligence Ministry. Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Courts sentenced him to one year mandatory sentence. The current ruling, of one year suspended sentence for the period of four years, and reporting to the local branch of the Intelligence Ministry every four months for interrogation during the course of these four years is a ruling by the appeals court. According to his lawyer, Nasrin Sotoodeh, explains that: "this kind of suspension, which is accompanied by severe control of the accused, is unprecedented."