By Abbas Djavadi – A month ago, Aliyeh Eqdam-Doost was arrested in her native town of Fooman and transferred to the infamous prison of Evin in Tehran. Why? Because she attended a peaceful demonstration two years ago in Tehran of all those who wanted equal rights for men and women, from divorce to inheritance.
On the occasion of March 8, the International Women’s Day, the Women’s Committee of the Tehran-based Iranian Defenders of Human Rights issued a statement noting that their fight for equal rights remains as difficult and “cost intensive” as ever. “We consistently have to face repression, arrest, and imprisonment of those who fight against discriminatory laws and practices.”
Mrs. Eqdam-Doost was sentenced to three years and four months in prison and 20 strikes of lashes for attending the peaceful demonstration in defense of equal rights for men and women in Iran. The blog “Taghyeer va Baraabari” (Change and Equality”) writes that the Court of Appeal confirmed her sntence to three years in prison. “She is the first [Iranian] women’s activist who has been sent to jail after a final court decision.”
