Narges Mohammadi, Human Rights Activist, Arrested in Tehran

According to the website Kalemeh, close to Mir Hossein Mousavi, "judiciary agents" of the Islamic Republic arrested Narges Mohammadi, the vice president of the Human Rights Defenders Center, at her home on Tuesday morning, May 15. The report states that Mohammadi initially refused to open the door for the agents, but after they presented a warrant accompanied by a "threat to break down the door," they eventually entered her home. At the time of her arrest, Gohar Eshghi, the mother of Sattar Beheshti, was also present at Mohammadi's home. Meanwhile, the Saham News website, close to Mehdi Karroubi, reported that Mohammad Nourizad, an artist critical of the Iranian government, was heading to Evin Prison with Gohar Eshghi to stage a "sit-in" in front of the prison following Mohammadi's arrest. Mohammadi's arrest comes as her court hearing was scheduled for Sunday, May 13, in Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, but was postponed at the request of her lawyers to review the case. In a previous interview with Radio Farda, Mohammadi mentioned charges against her including "collusion and conspiracy against national security," "propaganda against the regime," and the establishment of the group "LAGAM" (an acronym for the gradual abolition of the death penalty), which was formed by several political and cultural figures opposing the death penalty in Iran. Mohammadi also stated that her new case was opened after her meeting with Catherine Ashton, the former EU foreign policy chief, who met with several women’s rights activists in Iran, including Mohammadi and Gohar Eshghi, during her visit to Iran on March 8, 2014, for International Women’s Day at the Austrian Embassy in Tehran. Mohammadi has been summoned and interrogated several times in recent years. In 2011, she was initially sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of "collusion and conspiracy against national security," "propaganda against the regime," and "membership in the Human Rights Defenders Center," but this sentence was reduced to six years in December of that year. She was transferred to Evin Prison and then to Zanjan Prison to serve her sentence, but due to illness, she was released on bail of 600 million tomans in August 2012.