Worldwide Support for the Release of Shiva Nazar Ahari

With the announcement by Iranian officials that the court trial of human rights activist Shiva Nazar Ahari will be held in the coming days, Iranians abroad held rallies in a few cities worldwide, demanding her release. Shiva Nazar Ahari has been in prison for the past seven months. She has been denied her fundamental rights of regular contact with her family, furlough leave, and even bail bond till her court date.

A campaign formed by the Committee of Human Rights Reporters presented signed petitions to the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington for her release. The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness about her situation and her seven months in prison in a limbo. The campaign demands her acquittal and immediate release.

Nazar Ahari’s lawyer, concerned by the heavy sentence issued by the same court for his other journalist client, Badrossadat Mofidi, expressed concern that despite the existence of any evidence in Nazar Ahari’s case file, she might also be handed a heavy sentence.

According to her lawyer, Nazar Ahari was accused of moharebeh (enmity with God) in her first case file. But according to her family, this charge was not brought against her the second time she was arrested.  In an interview with the Campaign, a Nazar Ahari family member said that both her lawyer and family believe that she should be freed, and that the charges of moharebeh have not been brought up during the past few months. In many post-election trials of political prisoners, the courts have completely disregarded any defense presented by the suspects and their lawyers. Nazar Ahari’s friends, former colleagues and those who monitor the worsening human rights situation in Iran demand that the Iranian officials release her immediately.