Narges Mohammadi's Court Session Held Without Her Presence

Narges Mohammadi's lawyer, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, announced that the trial session of this imprisoned human rights activist was held at the Revolutionary Court without her presence. Mustafa Nili wrote on Saturday, June 9, on X (formerly Twitter) that as her defense attorney, he defended his client in Branch 29 of the Revolutionary Court and reported that Ms. Mohammadi was tried on charges of 'propaganda against the regime.' He cited Narges Mohammadi's comments about Dina Qalibaf and her stance on boycotting the parliamentary elections as instances of this charge. Mr. Nili did not explain the reasons for Narges Mohammadi's absence from this court session, although Ms. Mohammadi had previously requested a 'public' trial with the presence of 'witnesses and narrators of sexual assault' and guarantees for the 'personal, psychological, and judicial security' of the witnesses. After Dina Qalibaf's arrest in late April, Narges Mohammadi sent a voice message outside the prison stating: 'Dina Qalibaf, a journalist, entered the women's ward of Evin Prison hours ago with bruises and a narrative of sexual assault.' Narges Mohammadi announced on May 18 that a case had been opened against her one day after sending this voice message. Dina Qalibaf was arrested on April 28, one day after sharing her personal account of being detained by government agents for not adhering to mandatory hijab and 'sexual assault' by one of them. On March 25 of the previous year, Ms. Mohammadi also issued a statement calling the parliamentary elections 'a show' and 'prescriptive' and announced a boycott. This imprisoned human rights activist declared the 'boycott of prescriptive elections' as a 'duty not only from a political perspective but also from an ethical standpoint' for everyone. Meanwhile, on June 3, 36 political-prisoner women incarcerated in Evin Prison called for a public trial for Narges Mohammadi and the presence of independent media at this trial. A page attributed to Ms. Mohammadi announced that these political prisoners also demanded the 'presence of witnesses and narrators of harassment, abuse, and sexual assault against imprisoned and detained women.' Anisha Asadollahi, Sepideh Ghaleian, Golrokh Iraei, Nahid Taghavi, Shakila Monfared, and Vida Rabani were among the signatories of this statement.