Narges Mohammadi and Aliyeh Motallebzadeh Arrested and Sent Back to Qarchak Prison

On Tuesday, April 12, 2022, human Rights activist Narges Mohammadi and women’s rights activist Aliyeh Motallebzadeh were arrested and sent back to prison while there were on furlough. In late February, these citizens were released on medical furlough.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on Tuesday, April 12, Narges Mohammadi and Aliyeh Motallebzadeh were arrested and sent back to Qarchak prison in Varamin City.

On her personal page on social media, Mrs Mohammadi informed  that she had to return to prison while she was still in recovery afopen-heart surgery recovery,

Also, Aliyeh Motallebzadeh, who was on furlough for medical treatment since February 23, 2022, returned to Qarchak prison.

Narges Mohammadi is a human rights activist and the vice president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center. Aliyeh Motallebzadeh is a photographer, women rights activist and a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign for Gender Equality as well as a campaign to protect acid attack victims. Narges Mohammadi and Aliyeh Motallebzadeh are currently serving respectively their eight and three years sentences in Qarchak prison located in Varamin City.

Aliyeh Motallebzadeh’s Request for Release on Probation Rejected

Aliyeh Motallebzadeh’s request for release on probation was recently rejected in a written notification by the Tehran prosecutor’s office.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the photographer and women’s rights activist is currently enduring a two-year sentence in Evin Prison in Tehran.

On November 26, 2016, Motallebzadeh was summoned to the office of the ministry of intelligence and subsequently was detained in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. On December 19, 2016, she was released on bail of 300 million tomans.

In 2017, the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced Motallebzadeh to three years in prison on charges of  “assembly and collusion to act against national security” and “propaganda against the regime”.

This verdict was upheld by Branch 36 of the court of Appeals in Tehran. In the issued lawsuit, “launching and participating in women empowerment workshop in abroad” had been invoked as an example of these charges. Grounded on Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, a severest punishment of two years was enforceable for her.

On October 11, 2020, Motallebzadeh arrived at Evin prison to begin her sentence, where she has been held since.

On April 26, 2021, she was punitively deprived of making phone calls after her complaints about the practice of holding detainees in solitary confinements in the prosecutor’s office of this prison.

On July 19, 2021, after contracting COVID, she was granted furlough and went on leave until August 30.

Aliyeh Motallebzadeh is a photographer, women rights activist and a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign for Gender Equality as well as a campaign to protect acid attack victims.