Monday, May 18, 2015

Iranian woman, 28, on trial on Tuesday - arrested for cartoon about access to contraception



Last August, 12 members of the Revolutionary Guards came to Atena’s house. They confiscated her personal belongings, blindfolded her and took her to Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. She was to be punished for her peaceful acts of political defiance, including meeting the families of political prisoners and for posting on Facebook a cartoon she’d drawn that was critical of members of the Iranian parliament.

Iran is currently creating a law that will roll back women’s rights in the country by restricting access to contraception and criminalising voluntary sterilisation. Atena’s cartoon, which depicted politicians in favour of this Bill, is now being held against her – one of the charges she faces at her trial on Tuesday 19 May is ‘insulting members of parliament through paintings’.

◼ FREE ATENA, FACING PRISON FOR DRAWING CARTOONS IN IRAN - Amnesty.org
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