Rescind 6-Year Prison Sentence of Iranian Women's Right Activist Minoo Mortazi Langroudi

UPDATE July 4, 2015--Civil and political activist Minoo Mortazi Langroudi has launched an appeal against the six-year prison sentence she received for her peaceful activism. Ms. Langroudi was convicted on charges of disturbing national security and propaganda against the state, based on her activities with a peaceful group that is critical of government policies.

“Ms. Langroudi’s activities have been within the law,” a source close to the family told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “All her life she has shown that she is not an extremist or a law breaker and now she expects the sentence against her will be quashed.”

Minoo Mortazi Langroudi is a member of the Council of Nationalist-Religious Activists, a political organization that advocates for political reform and greater democratization in Iran and which is banned by the Islamic Republic. She is also one of the founders of Mothers for Peace, a grassroots group formed to campaign against military action against Iran, and a board member of the Center to Defend Prisoners’ Rights, an informal civil society organization focused on obtaining due process and better conditions for political prisoners as well as their release, which is also banned in Iran.

Langroudi, who has been harassed and detained numerous times since the peaceful protests that followed the widely disputed 2009 presidential election in Iran, was put on trial in early May of this year at Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Salavati. In addition to her six-year prison sentence, she was banned from political and civic activities for two years. Judge Salavati, notorious for his harsh sentences, is frequently handpicked by Intelligence and security agencies to preside over the cases of political dissidents.

A source close to Langroudi said she hopes the harsh sentence will be reduced or completely rejected by the appellate court.

“In recent years Ms. Langroudi has beensummoned to the Intelligence Ministry many times to answer questions,” the source told the Campaign, adding that the authorities used those conversations regarding her peaceful activities to build the case against her. “She does not accept any of the charges against her.”
SOURCE: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2015/07/minoo-mortazi-langroudi/

June 13, 2015--Mrs. Minoo Mortazi Langroudi, a women's rights activist and a member of the National-Religious Council, was sentenced to six years imprisonment at branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court by the infamous Judge Salavati.

She was sentenced to five years in prison on the charge of establishing the National-Religious Council and an additional year on a charge of blackmail against the regime. Further, she has been forbidden any further socio-political activity. Ms. Mortazi Langroudi holds an MA in Women's Studies.

The women rights activist along with his husband Habibollah Peyman have been frequently summoned, threatened and interrogated by officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran's security forces, as the Campaign to Defend Civil and Political Prisoners in Iran said.

Dr. Habibollah Peyman, the General Secretary of the Opponent Muslim movement, was released on expensive bail in 2001 after spending more than eight months in solitary confinement of the Revolutionary Guards and five months in the public wards. He has been deprived attending any socio-political conferences.

Furthermore, another member of the National-Religious Council Hussain Rafei was convicted to six years imprisonment and two years deprivation of media and press activities.

SOURCE: BCR Group