Parvin Ardalan, winner of Olaf Palme Prize, harassed and prevented from receiving the prize.
IRAN
Parvin Ardalan |
Parvin Ardalan, a journalist and women's rights defender, is facing imprisonment for her part in organizing a demonstration in June 2006 calling for an end to legal discrimination against women in Iran. She was briefly detained after the demonstration. In April 2007, she was convicted of acting against national security and sentenced to six months' actual imprisonment, with an additional 30 months suspended for five years. She remains free pending her appeal.
More on the Case
On 4 March 2007, during the trial, protests were held and she was among 33 women arrested. She was released four days later and was later charged with "gathering and colluding with the intent to harm national security, disturbing public order and disobeying police orders." No verdict on this has yet been reached.
Parvin Ardalan is a well-known journalist in Iran, having worked in the past for prominent publications such as the recently banned Zanan magazine, and more recently for the website Zanestan, closed down in November 2007. Parvin Ardalan is currently an editor of "Change of Equality," an online publication promoting women's rights. She is a member of the Women's Cultural Centre, a non-governmental organization, and a founding member of the Campaign for Equality, which aims to collect a million signatures of Iranians demanding equality for women under the law. She has also been harassed by the security forces, including by being summoned for interrogation on numerous occasions in connection with her journalism and defense of women's rights.
Parvin Ardalan was awarded the prestigious Olof Palme Prize for 2007 for her activism on behalf of women's rights in Iran. The Olof Palme Memorial Fund website says that Parvin Ardalan was chosen because she has "succeeded in making the demand for equal rights for men and women a central part of the struggle for democracy in Iran." She had boarded a plane at the airport in Tehran on 3 March 2008 in order fly to Stockholm to accept the award in person at the ceremony on 6 March but was removed from the flight by Iranian authorities. Her passport was then confiscated.
Although she was not permitted to attend the award ceremony, she delivered the speech by video on 6 March. She said, "I believe that bestowing this honor upon me, is not only an act of recognition for the individual struggles of women's rights activists in Iran, but an honor acknowledging the collective actions of the women's movement as well as other social movements in Iran. The granting of this award demonstrates that the efforts of those who work to defend equal rights and freedoms in Iran despite the many ups and downs their struggles entail, and the patriarchal obstacles along their path ¬ has indeed been effective. And yes, today our demand for justice has resonated with the international community. I too am aware that by receiving this award, I will be subject to greater pressures and accusations at home." She added, "Today the slogan of the Campaign, Change for Equality, has transcended geographic borders. It has done so with the support and assistance of its activists and supporters inside and outside the country, the support of international networks of Iranian and international supporters, feminists and human rights defenders. The significant support of international feminist organizations, the international press, and human rights groups provided to Iranian activists to amplify their demands and highlight their situation is worthy of great praise. Iranian women's demands have been pursued and supported by social movements, activists and human rights organizations across the world. The continuation of our struggle and movement relies heavily on supporters inside and outside Iran."
Full Text of her Remarks
Action:
Write to His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Jashemi Shahroudi, Head of the Judiciary, expressing your concern about the case of Parvin Ardalan, a prominent write and women's rights activist who was given a 3 and ½ year sentence in 2007 for her involvement in a peaceful demonstration that rook place in June 2006. Though the sentence has been suspended for the time being, she has been subjected to repeated interrogations. When Ardalan won the Olaf Palme Prize for her activist on behalf of women's rights in Iran, she was pulled off the plane to Sweden and her passport was confiscated Urge that her conviction and prison sentence be overturned and that all charges stemming from her peaceful activism be dropped. Urge that authorities cease their harassment and return her passport to her.
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Head of the Judiciary
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazqiheh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur ST.Vali Asr Ave., south of Seah-e Jomhouri,
TEHRAN 1316814737
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir
