Shaparak Shajari-Zadeh Sentenced to Two Years of Imprisonment and 18 Years of Suspended Sentence

Shaparak Shajari-Zadeh, one of the well-known women referred to as the girls of the Revolution Street, announced in a live conversation with her followers on Instagram that she has been sentenced to two years of imprisonment and an 18-year suspended sentence. According to Iranian law, the prison sentence will be enforced, but the suspended sentence will only be activated if the convicted individual is again sentenced in court for a related charge. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, had reported on July 1 without naming her that one of the girls of the Revolution Street had been sentenced to two years of imprisonment and an 18-year suspended sentence. He also stated that the prosecution believes the 18-year prison sentence for this individual is 'not subject to suspension' and that the prosecution will appeal this ruling. From Mr. Jafari Dolatabadi's remarks, it appears that the prosecution believes a 20-year prison sentence should be issued for Ms. Shajari-Zadeh. During the public protests against mandatory hijab last year, several women were arrested, among them, Narges Hosseini was sentenced to two years, Maryam Shari'at-Madari to one year, and Shima Babaei to two months in prison. Shaparak Shajari-Zadeh was arrested in early March of last year for removing her hijab in Qeytarieh Street in Tehran and was released on bail a few days later. She was also arrested for the second time on May 7 in Kashan and was released after about 10 days. The public protest against mandatory hijab began in December 2017 on Revolution Street in Tehran by a girl named Vida Mohammadi. Following that, several other girls in various areas of the same street and in other streets and cities of Iran protested against the mandatory hijab by climbing to heights and removing their head coverings. The violent response against these girls faced criticism from human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, but Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, described these protests as a result of 'the extensive propaganda of enemies and their exorbitant costs to negatively impact the hijab issue.'