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The Women's Movement (Women's Right Activist Jailed)
Iran woman activist sentenced to lashes, jail-lawyer
An Iranian court has sentenced a women's rights activist to almost three years in jail and 10 lashes for attending a banned rally, her lawyer said on Tuesday.
Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh said Delaram Ali, 24, was her fourth client to be convicted over the protest in favour of female rights in the conservative Islamic state. Scores of people were detained at the demonstration in June last year.
'The women's movement is expanding and it worries the government,' Sotoudeh told Reuters.
Rights activists and Western diplomats say Iran is taking a tougher line against dissent in general, possibly in response to increased international pressure over its disputed nuclear activities. Pro-reform students, intellectuals and labor movement figures are also among those targeted, they say.
The West suspects Tehran is developing an atomic bomb, a charge Tehran denies. The U.N. Security Council is discussing imposing a third round of sanctions on Iran in the atomic row.
Sotoudeh said Monday's sentence by a court in the capital would be appealed, and that Ali was free on a bail of 200 million rials (about $21,600).
Ali received a total of 34 months on charges of participating in an illegal gathering, propaganda activities against the system, and disrupting public order and peace.
'The sentence is illegal in our opinion,' Sotoudeh said, adding peaceful demonstrations were allowed under Iranian law. 'I hope it will be rejected in the higher court.'
Campaigners complain women face difficulties in getting a divorce and also decry unjust inheritance laws and the fact that their court testimony is only worth half that of a man's.
Iran says it does not discriminate against women and says its laws are based on the Islamic sharia code.
At last year's rally, the judiciary said police detained 70 people at what it described as an 'illegal' gathering. About 100 women had gethered to protest against what they called Iran's discriminatory laws against women. Some men also took part.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch had earlier said six women were convicted after taking part in the protest.
Although women are legally entitled to hold most jobs in Iran, it remains a male-dominated society. They cannot run for president or become judges but in recent years they have started to work in police and fire departments.
An Iranian court has sentenced a women's rights activist to almost three years in jail and 10 lashes for attending a banned rally, her lawyer said on Tuesday.
Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh said Delaram Ali, 24, was her fourth client to be convicted over the protest in favour of female rights in the conservative Islamic state. Scores of people were detained at the demonstration in June last year.
'The women's movement is expanding and it worries the government,' Sotoudeh told Reuters.
Rights activists and Western diplomats say Iran is taking a tougher line against dissent in general, possibly in response to increased international pressure over its disputed nuclear activities. Pro-reform students, intellectuals and labor movement figures are also among those targeted, they say.
The West suspects Tehran is developing an atomic bomb, a charge Tehran denies. The U.N. Security Council is discussing imposing a third round of sanctions on Iran in the atomic row.
Sotoudeh said Monday's sentence by a court in the capital would be appealed, and that Ali was free on a bail of 200 million rials (about $21,600).
Ali received a total of 34 months on charges of participating in an illegal gathering, propaganda activities against the system, and disrupting public order and peace.
'The sentence is illegal in our opinion,' Sotoudeh said, adding peaceful demonstrations were allowed under Iranian law. 'I hope it will be rejected in the higher court.'
Campaigners complain women face difficulties in getting a divorce and also decry unjust inheritance laws and the fact that their court testimony is only worth half that of a man's.
Iran says it does not discriminate against women and says its laws are based on the Islamic sharia code.
At last year's rally, the judiciary said police detained 70 people at what it described as an 'illegal' gathering. About 100 women had gethered to protest against what they called Iran's discriminatory laws against women. Some men also took part.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch had earlier said six women were convicted after taking part in the protest.
Although women are legally entitled to hold most jobs in Iran, it remains a male-dominated society. They cannot run for president or become judges but in recent years they have started to work in police and fire departments.
