Golrokh Iraee charged with national security related charges
On 12 April 2021, Golrokh Iraee was informed that Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court had sentenced her in absentia to an additional year in prison, a two-year travel ban, and a two-year ban on participating in political parties and groups.
On the evening of 24 January 2021, the woman human rights defender Golrokh Iraee was transferred from Qarchak prison in Varamin, the southern neighbourhood of Tehran, to Amol prison in north Iran.
On 13 December 2020, the woman human rights defender, Golrokh Iraee was physically assaulted and forcibly transferred to ward 2A of Evin prison.
On 7 December 2020, woman human rights defender Golrokh Iraee was summoned to ward 2A of Evin prison, which is run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence service.
On 9 November 2019, Iranian Revolutionary Guards arrested Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee.
On 5 September 2019, the Tehran Appeal Court extended the sentence of human rights defenders Atena Daemi and Golrokh Iraee during a revision hearing for two additional years and one month. On 18 July 2019, the Revolutionary Court in Tehran found both human rights defenders guilty of " insulting the supreme leader" and "promoting propaganda against the state". They received prison sentences of three years and seven months.
On 12 May 2018, Atena Daemi and Golrokh Iraee were returned to Evin Prison after having been illegally transferred to Gharchak prison (in the city of Varamin) for three and half months. Both human rights defenders had been on hunger strike in protest at the transfer.
As of 9 March 2018, human rights defenders Atena Daemi and Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee are being held in a quarantine section of Shahr-e Rey prison in the town of Varamin. It is not known exactly when they were transferred from Evin prison, but it has been reported that holding conditions of the human rights defenders are poor, with only salty water provided, and that they are still wearing the clothes they wore upon arriving at Shahr-e Rey prison.
Golrokh, an accountant, began serving a six-year sentence in October 2016 for “insulting the sacred” and “propaganda against the state,” primarily for writing an unpublished story about stoning that was confiscated during a raid of her home by the Revolutionary Guards. The raid was initially organised against Iraee’s husband, civil rights activist Arash Sadeghi, who is serving a 19-year sentence.
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- 26 September 2022 : Golrokh Iraee charged with national security related charges
- 11 May 2022 : Golrokh Iraee released from Amol prison
- 15 April 2021 : Golrokh Iraee sentenced in absentia
- 26 January 2021 : Golrokh Iraee transferred to Amol Prison
- 14 December 2020 : Golrokh Iraee physically assaulted and forcibly transferred
- 9 December 2020 : Golrokh Iraee summoned to ward 2A Evin prison for interrogation
- 13 November 2019 : Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee arrested
- 9 September 2019 : Prison Sentence Extended for Golrokh Iraee
- 15 March 2018 : DROI Chair calls for release and urgent medical help for women human rights defenders in Iran
- 9 March 2018 : Held in poor conditions in Shahr-e Rey prison
- 24 July 2017 : Golrokh Iraee released from Amol prison
On 4 January 2023, woman human rights defender Golrokh Iraee was charged with "gathering and colluding against national security" and “propaganda against state” at Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court. These charges have been built on her participation in protests and her social media posts about protesters who were killed or arrested following the September 2022 protests in Iran.
On 29 November 2022, the woman human rights was transferred to Evin prison from Qarchak prison.On 26 September 2022, the woman human rights defender Golrokh Iraee was violently arrested following a house raid. She was transferred to solitary confinement in Qarchak prison.
Golrokh Iraee had been released from Amol prison on 9 May 2022 after having served unjustly three years in prison on the charges of “insulting the sacred”, "insulting the supreme leader" and "promoting propaganda against the state". The charges were in connection with her defence of the prisoners’ rights.
On 9 May 2022, the woman human rights defender, Golrokh Iraee was released from Amol prison. The woman human rights defender was granted an unconditional release based on Art. 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, according to which “a convict must serve the most severe single sentence, in case of multiple sentencing”.
On 12 April 2021, Golrokh Iraee was informed that Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court had sentenced her in absentia to an additional year in prison, a two-year travel ban, and a two-year ban on participating in political parties and groups. In January 2021, the woman human rights defender had been transferred from Qarchak prison in Varamin, in a southern neighbourhood of Tehran, to Amol prison in north Iran. The woman human rights defender was denied access to family visits or calls and access to a lawyer during this period.
In 18 July 2019, Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced the woman human rights defender to two additional years and one month on the charges of "insulting the supreme leader" and "promoting propaganda against the state". The charges were in connection with her defence of the prisoners’ rights while she was in serving a six-year sentence since October 2016 for “insulting the sacred” and “propaganda against the state,” primarily for writing an unpublished story about stoning.
On 12 April 2021, Golrokh Iraee was informed that Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court had sentenced her in absentia to an additional year in prison, a two-year travel ban, and a two-year ban on participating in political parties and groups.
The woman human rights defender, currently detained in Amol prison, has been denied access to a lawyer since the new case was opened against her in December 2020. The last hearing in the case occurred on 24 January 2020, when Golrokh Iraee was not informed in advance of the time of the hearing.
On the evening of 24 January 2021, the woman human rights defender Golrokh Iraee was transferred from Qarchak prison in Varamin, the southern neighbourhood of Tehran, to Amol prison in north Iran. The transfer came after she was briefly returned to Qarchak prison, after 43 days of interrogation by the IRGC intelligence service in Ward 2A of Evin Prison. The woman human rights defender was denied access to family visits and calls during this period and her family was ordered keep silent about her situation via a telephone call by one of the Revolutionary Guards intelligence interrogators.
Since her arrest in November 2019, Golrokh Iraee has been denied access to telephone calls and visits to her husband, Arash Sadeghi, a human rights defender who is imprisoned in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj. The woman human rights defender defender is worried that her transfer to Amol prison in north Iran will further restrict her visitation right to her husband, who was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer in 2018.
On 13 December 2020, the woman human rights defender, Golrokh Iraee was physically assaulted and forcibly transferred to ward 2A of Evin prison. This comes after she refused to be moved on 7 December, and stated that the summons was illegal because she was not given coherent and clear reasoning for it.
On 7 December 2020, woman human rights defender Golrokh Iraee was summoned to ward 2A of Evin prison, which is run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence service. The woman human rights defender, who is currently serving her sentence in Qarchak prison, refused to go and stated that the summons was illegal because she was not given coherent and clear reasoning for it. The reason for Golrokh Iraee’s summons has yet to be made public, however, the Iranian security services have a long history of filing cases against prisoners on the verge of release. According to the summons, which was sent to Golrokh Iraee in Qarchak prison, she is to be transferred to the ward 2A of Evin Prison to undergo a week of investigation.
On 9 November 2019, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards arrested Golrokh Iraee at her home and transferred her to Qarchak Prison in Varamin. The arrest came shortly after she was released from Evin prison after serving another sentence. New charges were brought against her and fellow woman human rights defender Atena Daemi, after they protested against the execution of three Kurdish activists in the women's ward of Evin Prison. Subsequently, both women human rights defenders were sentenced by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court to three years and seven months in prison. The court also sentenced them to a two year ban on membership in groups and parties. Although Golrokh Iraee and Athena Daemi appealed the decision, the verdict was confirmed without convening in court. Based on article 134 of Islamic Penal Code, both human rights defenders will serve a period of two years and one month imprisonment.
Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and her husband Arash Sadeghi, a human rights defender imprisoned in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, have been denied access to telephone calls and visits since Golrokh Iraee’s arrest in November 2019, despite the law providing for meetings between imprisoned family members, even if they are incarcerated in separate prisons.
On 9 November 2019, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards arrested woman human rights defender Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee. She was taken to Gharchak prison and has been denied contact with her family.
On 5 September 2019, the Tehran Appeal Court extended the sentence of human rights defenders Atena Daemi and Golrokh Iraee during a revision hearing for two additional years and one month. On 18 July 2019, the Revolutionary Court in Tehran found both human rights defenders guilty of " insulting the supreme leader" and "promoting propaganda against the state". They received prison sentences of three years and seven months.
UPDATE: On 12 May 2018, Atena Daemi and Golrokh Iraee were returned to Evin Prison after having been illegally transferred to Gharchak prison (in the city of Varamin) for three and half months. Both human rights defenders had been on hunger strike in protest at the transfer.
Alarmed by the detention of two women human rights defenders in Iran, the Chair of the Human Rights Subcommittee (DROI) of the European Parliament Pier Antonio Panzeri, made the following statement:
"I am gravely concerned by the detention and reported cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of Atena Daemi and Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee at Shahr-e Rey prison. They are regarded as prisoners of conscience by credible human rights organisations. They are serving lengthy and unjust prison sentences that were handed down solely for their peaceful human rights work.
Therefore I urge the Iranian authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally.
Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and Atena Daemi should also be given urgent and adequate medical attention and care due to their fragile and deteriorating state of health as a result of their lengthy hunger strike and ill-treatment, including previous harassment and physical attacks by other inmates and guards. I call on the prison administration and the relevant authorities to guarantee regular contacts with family members, including prison visits and phone calls. I also call on the authorities to take immediate steps to improve the detention conditions and facilities at Shahr-e Rey prison."
As of 9 March 2018, human rights defenders Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and Atena Daemi are being held in a quarantine section of Shahr-e Rey prison in the town of Varamin. It is not known exactly when they were transferred from Evin prison, but it has been reported that holding conditions of the human rights defenders are poor and that they are still wearing the clothes they wore upon arriving at Shahr-e Rey prison. As of 9 March, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, who suffers from severe muscular pain, had been on hunger strike for over one month (35 days), and has reportedly been forcibly given IV fluids since her arrival to the prison.
UPDATE: Atena Daemi and Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee are still on hunger strike as of 15 February 2018. Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee fainted on 12 February, and both defenders are suffering from fragile health conditions. On 13 February 2018, the mother and sister of Atena Daemi were arrested after being beaten by prison guards with batons while standing in front of Evin prison to show their solidarity with the defender. They were released that same evening.
Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and fellow prisoner Atena Daemi are currently on hunger strike in Iran's Evin prison. As of 24 July 2017, Atena Daemi continues to be denied adequate specialized medical care at Tehran’s Evin prison to treat the effects of her recent 55-day hunger strike.
Golrokh, an accountant, began serving a six-year sentence in October 2016 for “insulting the sacred” and “propaganda against the state,” primarily for writing an unpublished story about stoning that was confiscated during a raid of her home by the Revolutionary Guards. The raid was initially organised against Iraee’s husband, civil rights activist Arash Sadeghi, who is serving a 19-year sentence.
In a recent open letter, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and Atena Daemi described the conditions in Evin prison, and the level of medical care available, which contrasted sharply with the positive image of the prison given to a group of 40 foreign Ambassadors who were given a private tour of the prison on 5 July 2017.
“They have spoken, and you have spoken, of women’s health services. We’ll speak of it now: of the state of the clinic and mistakes in medication, of the lack of antiseptics and cleaning products excused by ‘budget shortfalls’. […] Have they told you that, owing to excuses based in religious law, male doctors don’t perform medical exams, injections, or electrocardiograms on women prisoners? Did they say that there’s not a single woman nurse in the whole prison to do these things for us? Do you know that hundreds, perhaps thousands of prisoners here suffer from kidney disease from drinking the prison’s unhealthy water? […] If only you’d also been able to ride the Evin ambulance during your review, too, to see the lack of necessities inside it!”
Front Line Defenders is concerned by the Iranian authorities’ failure to provide the necessary medical treatment for Atena Daemi, and calls on the government to ensure that the human rights defender receives the specialist medical treatment required to treat the effects of her hunger strike. Front Line Defenders reiterates its call for the immediate and unconditional release of Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee who is imprisoned in reprisal for her peaceful and legitimate human rights activities.
