Appeal against the imprisonment of women's rights defenders in Iran

Parvin Ardalan, Jelveh Javaheri, Maryam Hosseinkhah and Nahid Kesharvarz are all activists in the women’s Campaign for Equality in Iran, who contribute to the Campaign for Equality website and the Zanestan website (Zanestan covered women’s issues, and was banned in November 2007).

They have all been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for 'acting against national security by spreading propaganda against the state'. All of the activists are appealing against the sentence.

Amir Yaghoub-Ali, a male supporter of the campaign, was collecting signatures for the campaign when he too was arrested and sentenced to one year.

On appeal, his sentence was suspended for 4 years. However, he still has to report to the Ministry of Intelligence every 4 months and if he is convicted of a similar offence, he must serve the full sentence. Amnesty considers all of these activists to be prisoners of conscience.

Take action - call on the Iranian authorities to ensure that appeals against these sentences are heard promptly and impartially, the suspended sentence is reviewed, and for human rights defenders to be allowed to work free from violence or threats.