Sepideh Rashnu, a writer, student, and protester against mandatory hijab, has been summoned to serve her prison sentence. The Supreme Court has converted her prison sentence in another case to a fine.
Saman Rashnu, Sepideh’s brother, wrote on his personal page: “From March 10, 2024, until today, multiple notices have been sent to Sepideh, or she has been summoned by phone. Each time, Sepideh’s legal representative, Mr. Panahipour, or I visited the Enforcement of Judgments office to delay the sentence execution. We were trying to buy time, hoping the Supreme Court would acquit her in the second legal case to prevent the suspended sentence of the first case from being executed. The Supreme Court converted the prison sentence to a fine, but since the charge remains unchanged, the previous suspended sentence will be executed. Yesterday, the enforcement branch called, and Sepideh has to turn herself in to Evin Prison on Saturday, July 27.”
In mid-July 2022, a video surfaced online showing a confrontation between several women involving Rashnu on a BRT bus, where someone intervened in a woman’s dress under the pretext of “promoting virtue.” Some passengers confronted the person filming the protestors.
Subsequently, Rashnu was arrested for allegedly “insulting and assaulting the religious vigilante (hijab enforcer)” and was transferred to a security detention center. In December 2022, she received a suspended three-years, seven-months prison sentence for this case.
Faced with another judicial case, Ms. Rashnu was summoned and charged by Branch 1 of Evin’s Prosecutor’s Office in May 2023. In October of last year, Branch 1099 of the Ershad Court sentenced her to six months in prison, a ten million toman fine, and other additional punishments. Later, Branch 1 of Tehran’s Court of Appeals reduced the sentence to four months in prison, which was eventually converted to a fine by the Supreme Court.
In December last year, Rashnu’s lawyer announced that the second case was formed due to her appearance in her chosen attire in front of the court.
Sepideh Rashnu, aged around 30, is an undergraduate painting student at Alzahra University. She was also suspended for two semesters for not complying with the mandatory hijab.
