KURDISTAN: Women's Rights Activist Sentenced to 6+ Years

Ronak Saffarzadeh is a Kurdish women's rights activist, and signatory to “One million signatures campaign for the repeal of discriminatory laws against women”.

She was arrested on October 9th, 2008 for distributing pamphlets about “education in Kurdish language and objection to honour killings”. She spent more than one year in prison, and was later sentenced to six years and seven months by Branch one of Sanandaj Revolutionary Court on 13th of April 2009. She was charged with waging enmity against God, and propagating against the regime.

Ronak has been assaulted numerous times while in prison, and injured. She has not been removed to a safer ward. In 2009, she lost an appeal against her sentence. The continuous harassment of women's rights activists and imprisonment in Iran has received little international outcry, which is why we urge our supporters to sign the petition below for her release. Many women like her have been arrested on similar grounds, and have yet to receive international attention.

Sign the Petition here.
Send a generic appeal letter to Iranian authorities here.