Young Female Artist’s Prison Sentence Reduced on Appeal, Could Soon Go Free

Prisoner of conscience Atena Faraghdani’s sentence has been reduced on appeal from 12 years and nine months in prison to 18 months, making her eligible for early release in a few weeks, her lawyer, Mohammad Moghimi, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

“The preliminary sentence against my client was reduced by the fair judges of Branch 54 of the Tehran Appeals Court,” said Moghimi. “Based on this ruling, Ms. Faraghdani should go free on May 11 [2016], at the end of her 18-month prison sentence.”

“Ms. Faraghdani was acquitted of the most serious charge of ‘assembly and collusion against the state,’ which carried a sentence of seven and a half years in prison. Another charge, ‘insulting the Supreme Leader,’ which carried a sentence of three and half years in prison, was suspended for four years,” he added.

“Also, the charge of ‘insulting’ the current president, members of Parliament, and agents in Ward 2-A of the Revolutionary Guards in Evin Prison, for which she was sentenced to nine months in prison, was reduced on appeal to a fine of one million rials (about $33 USD),” continued Moghimi. “The only sentence upheld without change was 18 months in prison for ‘propaganda against the state.’”

Atena Faraghdani, 28, recipient of the 2015 Courage in Cartooning Award by the Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI), was sentenced on June 1, 2015 to 12 years and nine months in prison after she drew a cartoon that depicted members of the Iranian Parliament as animals and posted it on her Facebook page.