Athena Daemi, Human Rights Activist, and Her Sister Ansiyeh Seek Asylum in Canada

Athena Daemi, a human rights activist and former political prisoner, announced her asylum in Canada alongside her sister Ansiyeh, revealing details of her secretive life over the past months in Iran and then in Iraqi Kurdistan. In a message posted on Instagram and X on Wednesday, November 25, she referred to her years spent in the prisons of the Islamic Republic 'due to civil activism in defense of human rights and opposition to the death penalty,' stating that from October 2014 to February 2022, she was only free for 9 months. She mentioned that she had been sentenced to 'over 19 years in prison' across 9 different cases, and of the '7 years' of her enforceable prison sentence, she had served 6 years and 7 months, during which intelligence and judicial authorities continuously fabricated cases against her and her family. This human rights activist, who announced her diagnosis of 'multiple sclerosis,' stated that 'due to the pressures from security agencies and the consequences' inflicted on her body while in prison, she had been 'suspected of having multiple sclerosis' multiple times, and after her release, medical tests confirmed that she had 'developed MS significantly due to lack of medical care during imprisonment.' Athena Daemi described the hardships of treatment in Iran and the unavailability of certain necessary medications, stating that despite 'pressures and repression,' she never considered leaving and attempted to support her treatment costs by starting a 'small leather workshop in her backyard,' but was 'threatened multiple times.' She emphasized that after the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in custody, she realized that if she wanted to stay and continue, she had to prevent her own arrest. Consequently, Athena Daemi 'secretly moved from city to city for eight months with a suitcase and a phone without a SIM card' to avoid arrest; however, she received 'threatening messages through detainees multiple times. I didn't want them to win in their battle against me and silence my voice and that of others who needed me to be their voice!' Athena Daemi also mentioned that 'my treatment for my illness was halted due to living secretly, and my physical condition worsened every day due to everything we all witnessed over the past year. During those eight months, my family was threatened and pursued multiple times, my sister and her husband were arrested to find me,' and 'eventually, due to the progression of my illness and the need for treatment, I had to leave Iran with my older sister on May 9, 2023, and went to Iraqi Kurdistan.' This human rights activist, detailing her six months of 'secret' and 'illegal residence' in Iraq, stated that she had not announced her exit from Iran until now due to 'pressures from the Islamic Republic on Iraq and the Kurdistan Region and making the environment unsafe for political activists.' This former political prisoner also mentioned that she applied for asylum in Canada using the 'resettlement project for at-risk human rights activists' and 'arrived in Canada today after six months.' Athena Daemi emphasized that 'the struggle for freedom has been ongoing for centuries and will never stop without us,' recalling that 'in interrogation rooms, in the courtyards of Evin, Qarchak, and Lakan prisons, I have repeatedly shouted death to the Islamic Republic,' and now considers her 'only duty' to 'help bring about its destruction so that freedom, justice, and the restoration of our rights can be achieved!' According to her, 'thousands are in prisons for the same goals, and we must help their freedom from prison be accompanied by the freedom of all people'; Athena Daemi expressed hope that she could 'perform her duty well in this path by harmonizing with freedom-seekers, organizations, institutions, prisoners, families seeking justice, and activists who have remained in Iran despite all hardships and repression, shouting for freedom and justice.'