The Iranian Parliament is currently in the process of creating a law that will restrict female access to contraception and criminalizing voluntary female sterilization. 28 years old Atena Farghadani then posted on Facebook a cartoon satirizing the lawmakers for their patriarchal attitude towards women, and she was later hauled up and had been placed under detention since August last year.
While in prison, she was repeatedly beaten by prison female guards. She was released in November but was rearrested about 6 weeks later for speaking to the media about her beatings and have posted a YouTube video about her degrading condition while in detention.
According to Amnesty International, she will be charged in court on Tuesday, 19th May for 3 main offences that infringed on the sovereignty of the Iranian State. The charges are as follows:
1)Spreading propaganda against the system
2)Insulting members of parliament through paintings
3)Insulting the Supreme Leader
Amnesty International reported that while under detention, she was held in solitary confinement and denied access to lawyers and her family. After she was briefly released, she described her beatings while in prison and was rearrested as a reprisal for talking about her maltreatment. The 28 years old is currently on hunger strike and suffered a heart attack in February as a direct result.
Source: Amnesty International
