2 August 2012

RAN 20/12 – Update #2

The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International welcomes the release on bail on 30 July 2012 of prominent Iranian human rights activist and journalist Nargess Mohammadi. PEN International continues to call for all charges against Nargess Mohammadi to be quashed, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party.

An award-winning activist and journalist Nargess Mohammadi, formerly the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC), was arrested from her home on 21 April 2012 to serve out a six-year prison sentence. She was sentenced on 26 September 2011 to eleven years in prison for ‘acting against the national security’, ‘membership of the DHRC’ and ‘propaganda against the regime’ for her reporting on human rights violations, cooperation with Shirin Ebadi and visiting political prisoners. She remained free on bail, but on 4 March 2012 an appeals court confirmed the conviction, reducing the sentence to six years. Her health has deteriorated rapidly since her arrest.

For the previous WiPC alert on Nargess Mohammadi, click here.
Thank you to all who sent appeals on this case.

For further information please contact Cathy McCann at PEN International Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: cathy.mccann@pen-internationalpen.org