Fatemeh Sepehri

Fatemeh Sepehri (Persian: فاطمه سپهری; born 1964) is a political and women's rights activist and a political prisoner from Iran.

Fatemeh Sepehri
فاطمه سپهری
Sepehri in 2022
Born1964 (age 58–59)
NationalityIranian
Known forPolitical and women's rights activist, political prisoner

Background

Fatemeh Sepehri was born in 1964. Although early challenges prevented her from pursuing her higher education, she passed the entrance exam in 2004 at the age of 40 and received a bachelor’s degree in business management from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.[1]

The Statement of 14 Political Activists

Sepehri and her brother Mohammad Hossein Sepehri are two of the signatories of the Statement of 14 Political Activists during the 2017–2018 Iranian protests requesting the resignation of Ali Khamenei from his post as the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and later the abolition of Islamic republic and establishment of a democratic secular government.[2][3]

After signing the letter, Sepehri received a great deal of attention due to the fact that her late husband had lost his life during the Iran–Iraq War. As a result, she came to be known as a martyr's widow. Iranian authorities did not expect the wife of a martyr with strong religious beliefs to urge Khamenei to resign and advocate a secular democratic governing system to replace the Islamic Republic regime.[1]

Shortly after the publication of the two letters, authorities arrested Fatemeh Sepehri, her brother Mohammad Hossein and other signatories to the petitions during a protest in front of the Islamic Azad University of Mashhad. Fatemeh Sepehri was charged with “disorderly conduct, inciting unrest and propagating lies” and sentenced to five years in prison and 154 lashes. She ultimately received a suspended sentence and was released from prison after nine months.[1][4]

Political activism

Sepehri was detained in Mashhad on Sunday, August 1, 2021 during a peaceful demonstration in support of the protesters in the southwestern province of Khuzestan and to protest the heightened security climate in the country. The demonstrators were also demanding the release of political prisoners.[1]

2022 arrest

During a wave of arrests as a result of Mahsa Amini protests, Sepehri was arrested on September 21 and taken to an unknown location after security agents raided her house.[5]

On October 23, 2022 Sepehari's daughter published a video stating that her mother has been kept in solitary confinement at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence center of Mashhad since her arrest, and after enduring more than a month in solitary confinement she can barely speak. The family's appeal to the case investigator and deputy prosecutor of the Mashhad court to transfer her to the general ward has been ineffective.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Iranian Police Arrest Activist Fatemeh Sepehri, Devout Woman with Secular Views". Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  2. "نامه‌ی دوم ۱۴ فعال مدنی- سیاسی داخل کشور: هیچ راهی برای بازسازی و نوسازی این رژیم ایران‌ویران‌کن وجود ندارد!" [Second Letter Of 14 Civil-Political Activists Inside Iran] (in Persian). Kayhan London. June 20, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  3. "At Least 13 Signers of Open Letters Urging Khamenei's Resignation Are Arrested". August 29, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  4. "فاطمه سپهری، از امضاکنندگان نامه انتقادی به خامنه‌ای، آزاد شد" [Fateme Sepehari, one of the signatories of the critical letter to Khamenei, was released] (in Persian). October 6, 2022. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  5. "فاطمه سپهری، فعال مدنی ساکن مشهد بازداشت شد" [Fateme Sepehari, a civil activist living in Mashhad, was arrested] (in Persian). September 21, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  6. "دختر فاطمه سپهری: مادرم پس از تحمل بیش از یک ماه سلول انفرادی به سختی می‌تواند حرف بزند" [Fatemeh Sepehari's daughter: My mother can barely speak after being kept in solitary confinement for more than a month] (in Persian). October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
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