34 Women Prisoners on Hunger Strike in Iran

Iranian women walk in the street without wearing a headscarf, in Tehran, Iran, 10 April 2023. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Iranian women walk in the street without wearing a headscarf, in Tehran, Iran, 10 April 2023. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
TT

34 Women Prisoners on Hunger Strike in Iran

Iranian women walk in the street without wearing a headscarf, in Tehran, Iran, 10 April 2023. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Iranian women walk in the street without wearing a headscarf, in Tehran, Iran, 10 April 2023. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Thirty-four women prisoners went on hunger strike in the Evin Prison on Sunday to mark the second anniversary of the nationwide protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, said the foundation of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi.

“Today, on the 15th September 2024, 34 female political prisoners in Evin Prison have gone on a hunger strike in commemoration of the second anniversary of the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement and the killing of Mahsa (Jina) Amini,” the foundation said.

Amini was a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd whose death in custody after her arrest for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women sparked the demonstrations.

“On the second anniversary of the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement, we reaffirm our commitment to achieving democracy, freedom, and equality and to defeating theocratic despotism,” Mohammadi, who has been in Tehran’s Evin prison since November 2021, said in a statement on her official X account.

Earlier, an Instagram account linked to the jailed activist published an audio clip of female prisoners chanting protest songs and slogans against reformists and conservatives in Iran. They called for the release of prisoners and for an immediate halt to executions in the country.

Meanwhile, Iranian authorities imposed tight security measures in Kurdish-majority cities west the country, fearing disturbances on the anniversary of the protests.

Mohammadi was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for both women's rights and the abolition of the death penalty.

Mohammadi's children received the Nobel Peace Price on her behalf in 2023 while she was incarcerated.

She has spent much of the past decade in and out of jail and has staged repeated hunger strikes.

In June 2024, Branch 29 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Mohammadi to one additional year in prison for “propaganda activities against the state.”

According to her family, her sentences now amount to 12 years and three months of imprisonment, 154 lashes, two years of exile, and various social and political restrictions.



Pakistan Military Court Jails 25 over 2023 Attacks

Supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan hold his posters during a gathering by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to observe Martyrs' Day to honor those who allegedly died during last month's protest, in Peshawar on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Abdul MAJEED / AFP)
Supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan hold his posters during a gathering by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to observe Martyrs' Day to honor those who allegedly died during last month's protest, in Peshawar on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Abdul MAJEED / AFP)
TT

Pakistan Military Court Jails 25 over 2023 Attacks

Supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan hold his posters during a gathering by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to observe Martyrs' Day to honor those who allegedly died during last month's protest, in Peshawar on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Abdul MAJEED / AFP)
Supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan hold his posters during a gathering by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to observe Martyrs' Day to honor those who allegedly died during last month's protest, in Peshawar on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Abdul MAJEED / AFP)

Twenty-five civilians were sentenced by a Pakistani military court to periods of two to 10 years of "rigorous imprisonment" in connection with attacks on military facilities in 2023, the armed forces' media wing said on Saturday.
The ruling underscores concerns among supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan that military courts are going to play a bigger role in cases involving the 72-year-old, who is facing multiple charges including allegedly inciting attacks against the armed forces.
Thousands of Khan supporters stormed military installations and torched a general's house on May 9, 2023 to protest against the former premier's arrest by paramilitary soldiers. At least eight people were killed in the violence.
The military's Inter-Services Public Relations office said the sentences handed down on Saturday were an "important milestone in dispensation of justice to the nation,” Reuters reported.
"It is also a stark reminder to all those who are exploited by the vested interests and fall prey to their political propaganda and intoxicating lies, to never take law in own hands," it added in a statement.
Others charged over the violence were being tried in anti-terrorism courts but justice would only be fully served "once the mastermind and planners ... are punished as per the Constitution and laws of the land," the military said.
The ruling comes days after Khan was indicted by an anti-terrorism court on charges of inciting attacks against the military. An army general who served under him as his spy chief, Faiz Hamid, is facing a military investigation on the same charges.
Pakistan's Supreme Court last week allowed military courts to announce verdicts in concluded trials of nearly 85 supporters of Khan on charges of attacking army installations, however it made such verdicts conditional on the outcome of appeals against the jurisdiction of military courts over civilians.
The court last year provisionally allowed military courts to try civilians.