Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee
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Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee or Golrokh Iraee (; born 1980) is an Iranian writer, accountant, political prisoner and a
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
defender who advocates against the practice of stoning in Iran. As a religious prisoner of conscience she was represented by Vice Chair of the USCIRF Gayle Manchin. During the mass arrest of activists amidst the
Mahsa Amini protests Civil unrest and protests against the Government of Iran, government of the Islamic Republic of Iran associated with the Death in custody, death in police custody of Death of Mahsa Amini#Victim, Mahsa Amini () began on 16 September 2022 and ca ...
on September 26, 2022 Iraee was arrested by security forces in her house and taken to an undisclosed location.


2014


Arrest

In September 2014, the Iranian government searched the home of Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and her husband Arash Sadeghi in
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
. The guards took laptops, notebooks and CDs. They found an
unpublished To publish Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creati ...
story Iraee wrote about stoning a woman. In the story, a young woman watches the movie, "
The Stoning of Soraya M ''The Stoning of Soraya M.'' () is a 2008 Persian-language American drama film adapted from French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam's 1990 book ''La Femme Lapidée''. The film is directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh, and stars Academy Award nominee ...
", becomes angry, and
burns Burns may refer to: Astronomy * 2708 Burns, an asteroid * Burns (crater), on Mercury People * Burns (surname), list of people and characters named Burns ** Burns (musician), Scottish record producer Places in the United States * Burns, ...
a copy of the
Koran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
. After the story was found, Iraee and her husband Sadeghi were
arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be question ...
ed by four men believed to be from the Revolutionary Guards. They took Sadeghi to
Evin Prison Evin Prison () is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for detaining Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "E ...
, but they took Iraee to a secret place for three days. They did not allow her to see a lawyer or to talk to her family. Then they took her to Evin Prison. For 17 days, they questioned her for hours,
blindfold A blindfold (from Middle English ') is a garment, usually of cloth, tied to one's head to cover the eyes to disable the wearer's sight. While a properly fitted blindfold prevents sight even if the eyes are open, a poorly tied or trick blindfo ...
ed her, and
threat A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation f ...
ened to kill her. While they
interrogated Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful inf ...
Iraee, she had to listen to the guards
kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...
and
choke Choke may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Choke'' (album), a 1990 album by the Beautiful South * "Choke" (I Dont Know How But They Found Me song), a 2017 song from the album ''1981 Extended Play'' * ''Choke'' (Kiss It Goodbye ...
her husband in the next cell.


Trials

Iraee had two short hearings. Her first hearing was about her husband's political activity. She was not permitted to speak. During the second hearing she was in the hospital after surgery, but the court would not look at her medical records. Her first lawyer was pressured to drop her case, and her second lawyer was prohibited from representing her. In October 2016, Iranian officials called Ebrahimi Iraee on a friend's telephone and told her to go to Evin Prison to start serving a six-year prison sentence. They did not have an
arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a jud ...
, as the law requires. Iraee was
convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts ...
ed of "insulting Islamic sanctities" and "spreading propaganda against the system." She began serving her six-year sentence that month for "insulting the sacred" and "propaganda against the state," after she wrote a story about
stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Stoning appears t ...
. Iraee was released from prison on January 3, 2017 after a 71-day hunger strike by her husband and a protest on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
that got international attention, but she was returned to prison January 22, after her husband stopped his hunger strike. Stoning to death is
controversial Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opp ...
in Iran, and often used against women. In 2010 there was strong international
criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...
of Iran because of the case of
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani (; born 1967) is an Iranian woman convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and adultery. She gained international notoriety for originally being sentenced to death by stoning for her crimes. Her sentence was commuted a ...
. Ashtiani was freed in March 2014, after nine years on
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...
. Another Iranian woman, Fariba Khalegi, is believed to be in prison and in danger of stoning.
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
called on the Iranian government to set Iraee free. According to Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, "She is facing years behind bars simply for writing a story, and one which was not even published – she is effectively being punished for using her imagination. Instead of imprisoning a young woman for peacefully exercising her human rights by expressing her opposition to stoning, the Iranian authorities should focus on abolishing this punishment, which amounts to torture."


Spouse's hunger strike

On October 24, 2016, Iraee's husband Sadeghi went on a hunger strike in prison to protest Iraee's imprisonment. There were demonstrations outside Evin Prison, which is very unusual. Even though Twitter is prohibited in Iran, a Twitter campaign used the hashtag #SaveArash. On January 3, 2017 Iraee was set free, and Sadeghi stopped his hunger strike. Sadghi's family said he was having many medical problems, including vomiting blood, and respiratory, heart, kidney and gastrointestinal problems. They took Sadeghi to the hospital, but after only a few days, on January 7, 2017 they returned him to prison, even though the doctors said he needed to be in the hospital. Iranian authorities said Iraee and Sadeghi could be temporarily out of prison on
bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...
if they got property bonds worth 7 and 10 billion rials (US$300,000) for Arash Sadeghi and 5 billion rials (US$150,000) for Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee. Iraee brought a property deed for the bail, but the government said they had a new order, and that Iraee must return to prison. Iraee refused to return to prison, but when she tried to visit her husband in the hospital, on January 22, 2017 the Revolutionary Guards at Sarallah Headquarters forced her to return to Evin Prison.


Imprisonment conditions

Iraee was transferred from Evin prison to Qarchak Prison, near
Varamin Varamin (; ) is a city in the Central District of Varamin County, Tehran province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Etymology The word "''Varamin''" has been recorded with the same spelling and pronunciation in P ...
, in March 2018. At that time Iraee and fellow human rights defender
Atena Daemi Atena Daemi Khoshknudhani (; born 1988) is an Iranian civil rights activist, children's rights activist, human rights activist and political prisoner in Iran. Daemi was last arrested in November 2016 and sentenced seven years prison sentence. Pea ...
were being held in a quarantine section of that prison (also called Shahr-e Rey prison). It has been reported that the conditions are poor, with the activists still wearing the same clothing as when they arrived. In December 2020, Iraee was summoned, assaulted and forcibly transferred to ward 2A of
Evin prison Evin Prison () is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for detaining Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "E ...
(solitary confinement). She was denied the right to contact her family and her fate remained unknown until 25 January 2021, with the news that she has been transferred to
Amol Amol ( ; ) is a city in the Central District (Amol County), Central District of Amol County, Mazandaran province, Mazandaran province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Amol is located on the Haraz River bank. It is ...
prison in
Mazandaran Mazandaran Province (; ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari, Iran, Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is border ...
.


2022

During the
Mahsa Amini protests Civil unrest and protests against the Government of Iran, government of the Islamic Republic of Iran associated with the Death in custody, death in police custody of Death of Mahsa Amini#Victim, Mahsa Amini () began on 16 September 2022 and ca ...
the Iranian government began the mass arrest of dissidents, including human rights defenders, students, lawyers, journalists and civil society activists. Iraee was also arrested by security forces in her house on September 26, 2022 and taken to an undisclosed location. During the arrest, security forces searched her house and confiscated some of her personal belongings. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), security officers broke the door to Iraei's house and entered her room during the arrest. The officers also kicked her in the stomach, which caused her to hit the cabinet in the room, and this caused severe damage to her back and stomach.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebrahimi Iraee, Golrokh Living people Women human rights activists Iranian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Iran 1980 births People from Amol Political prisoners in Iran