By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
TEHRAN, Iran – Ever since the 2009 presidential election that saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad retain control of the country, Iranian journalists and rights activists have been targeted as criminals for peacefully writing or saying anything that can be construed as anti-government propaganda. On Sunday, Zhila Bani-Yaghoub–also known as Jila Bani-Yaghoub, Jila Baniyaghoob, or Jila Jacob–arrived at the women’s wing of Evin prison to serve at one-year sentence. There, she will join many of her former colleagues, including activists Nasrin Sotoudeh, Bahareh Hedayat, and Mahsa Ambradi.
“Journalists in Iran face numerous restrictions on their legitimate work, including peaceful criticism of the authorities and reporting on human rights,” wrote Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Deputy Programme Director for Middle East and North America. “The Iranian authorities must relax unlawful restrictions on them and release all journalists held solely for their journalism and human rights work.”
Bani-Yaghoub was the editor of the women’s rights website, Focus on Iranian Women. In 2009, she was awarded the Courage in Journalism prize by the International Women’s Media Foundation. Additionally, in 2010, she was awarded the Freedom of Speech Award from Reporters Without Borders.
In addition to serving a one-year prison term, Bani-Yaghoub also faces a thirty-year ban on any journalistic or media activities. The sanctions against her stem from a 2010 charge of “spreading propaganda against the regime” and “insulting the president.” The charges followed articles she wrote during the campaign period for Iran’s 2009 election .
At the same time, her husband, Bahman Ahmadi-Amoui, was also arrested. Ahmadi-Amoui was the editor of the business paper, Sarmayeh. He wrote articles that were critical of the Ahmadinejad government which earned him the charges of “propaganda against the state,” “insulting the president,” “acting against the national security,” and “disrupting public security.” Ahmadi-Amoui was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison, as well as thirty-four lashes. On appeal, his sentence was reduced to five years in prison.
Ahmadi-Amoui originally started his jail stay in Evin prison but was “violently transferred” to a solitary confinement cell in Rajai Shahr prison. Human Rights Watch reported, through an anonymous source, that “during the transfer, authorities harassed and insulted Ahmadi-Amoui, and subjected him to a strip search.” The authorities at Rajai Shahr have consistently denied him visitation rights and phone privileges.
Bani-Yaghoub and Ahmadi-Amoui are not the first Iranian journalists and activists to be imprisoned for peacefully exercising their rights of freedom of expression, nor will they be the last; nor will their charges be the worst.
Arzhang Davoodi, a peaceful political activist who preached freedom and democracy, has been imprisoned in Iran since October 2003. Despite being jailed for nine years, he was brought back in front of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran on August 28 for a hearing on a new charge of “enmity against God,” which carries a possible death sentence.
For further information, please see:
Guardian – Iranian Activist Zhila Bani-Yaghoub Packs Her Bags and Heads to Prison – 5 September 2012
Amnesty International – Iran Must Release Prisoner of Conscience Zhila Bani-Yaghoub – 4 September 2012
Iranian – Jila Bani-Yaghoub: Prisoner of the Day – 3 September 2012
Focus on Iranian Women – Jacob in Prison Jila + Photos – 2 September 2012
Amnesty International – Iran Must Immediately Release Prisoner of Conscience Arzhang Davoodi – 24 August 2012
Human Rights Watch – Iran: End Abuse of Imprisoned Journalists – 13 July 2012
