WUNRN
Women Living Under Muslim Laws -
WLUML
Iran: Human Rights Lawyer Shadi Sadr
Released from Jail
Update on: Iran:
Women human rights defender, Shadi Sadr, beaten and arrested
28/07/2009: Women Living Under Muslim Laws is very happy to announce that Shadi
Sadr was released from Evin Prison on Tuesday, a little after 11 a.m. She
returned home to her family earlier than the 6 p.m. time the court had said she
would be released. Shadi’s family was planning to welcome her upon her arrival
when they saw her standing at the door. Apparently, Shadi Sadr had arrived
several hours earlier so that her friends and family would not have to gather
outside the prison.
Ms. Sadr, who is known for her work campaigning for women's rights, was
arrested on July 17 while she was on her way to Friday prayers in Tehran. Shadi
Sadr, a little after 11 a.m. today, was released from Evin Prison. She returned
home to her family earlier than the 6 p.m. time the court had said she would be
released.
She was
released on bail of US $50,000. The accusations against Ms Sadr are that she
acted against national security by provoking people to act in a disorderly
fashion and to disobey police orders.
BACKGROUND
On Friday 17 July 2009, at around 11:30 a.m., human rights lawyer and Council
member of WLUML, Shadi Sadr, was abducted by a group of officers in civilian
clothes while she was walking on Keshavarz Boulevard, Tehran, to a mosque for
Friday prayers. According to an eye-witness account, her friends tried to pull
her away from her abductors but were unable to do so; Ms. Sadr was "hit
badly and dragged so badly that her scarf and manteau (overcoat) was removed
from her". She was then forced into a car and taken away. Her abductors
did not show any identity cards, warrants, or a reason for her apprehension.
This abduction was a targeted act, unlike other arrests of peaceful women human
rights defenders in Iran such as at demonstrations. On Sunday 19 July Security
Guards called Ms. Sadr’s family asking them to provide bail. Niachian asked the
guards what would be acceptable for bail and they told him to bring ID card and
salary documents. However, after waiting outside Evin Prison for five hours,
the family returned home without her.
________________________________________________________________________
----- Original Message -----
From: WUNRN
ListServe
To: WUNRN ListServe
Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2009 11:51 AM
Subject: Iran - Women's Rights Lawyer & Activist Beaten,
Arrested
WUNRN
Shadi Sadr is part of the WUNRN
ListServe.
IRAN: Human Rights Lawyer Shadi Sadr Reportedly Arrested
Prominent lawyer, women's rights activist and journalist Shadi Sadr was
arrested by plainclothes policemen on her way to Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani's much-anticipated Friday sermon, according to several reformist
websites.
The activist group blog Mothers of Laleh
reported that Sadr was walking with several other female activists when she was
approached by individuals in civilian dress who refused to show a warrant
before forcing her into a waiting car.
Conflicting reports say she called her husband to ask for a
computer password or a cellphone personal identification number, but her
whereabouts are still unknown.
Sadr, who also edits the Farsi news website womeniniran.com, was arrested and held for two weeks in 2007. She has clashed with authorities numerous times over her outspoken stance on women's rights and capital punishment.
_________________________________________________________________________
Women's Learning Partnership
http://www.learningpartnership.org/en/node/657
IRANIAN WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST SHADI SADR BEATEN, ARRESTED
& DISAPPEARED
July 17, 2009
Shadi Sadr, a lawyer and prominent women's rights activist working with
the One Million Signatures Campaign, was arrested today by plain clothes
security officers and taken to an undisclosed location. The men pulled
her into a car as she walked along a busy road, and beat her as she
struggled to escape.
Ms. Sadr, a journalist, member of Meydaan (Women's Field), director of
Raahi (legal advice center for women), and founder of Zanan-e Iran
(Women of Iran--the first website dedicated to the work of Iranian
women's rights activists), has written extensively about Iranian women
and their legal rights.
Ms. Sadr's violent arrest marks an escalation in attacks against human
rights activists by the Iranian government since demonstrations
protesting Iran's disputed presidential election results. It follows
arrests of other human rights defenders, social justice activists, and
journalists. Numerous activists and protestors have disappeared or been
arrested, and reports from inside Iran indicate that hundreds more
protestors have been killed than government reports suggest. Many
families are unable to locate their loved ones, searching through
hospitals, photographs of corpses, police stations, prisons, and
inquiring at the Revolutionary Court.
WLP is gravely concerned for the safety of Shadi Sadr and women's rights
activists and citizens who have been peacefully speaking out for their
basic rights. We are especially concerned about the mounting violence
against women by state agents. The murder of 26 year old Neda
Agha-Soltani during the initial wave of protests brought the world's
attention to the danger that innocent women are facing as they stand up
for their civil rights. Now we have learned of the apparent murder of
28 year old Taraneh Mousavi after she was brutally attacked.
The recent political protests have brought on increased persecution of
women's rights activists, who have been regularly arrested and harassed
since 2006 for peacefully advocating for their equal rights before the
law. They have faced charges such as "acting against the national
security of the state," "propaganda against the state," and
"disrupting
public opinion" and, most recently, for membership in the One Million
Signatures campaign itself. Many are serving suspended sentences, and
face regular harassment and persecution by the government.
We call upon the women's rights community and all human rights activists
and organizations to speak out in defense of Shadi Sadr and all those
who are being unjustly persecuted.
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