Prominent Iranian Filmmaker At Evin Prison To Serve Six-Year Sentence

A woman who was arrested because of an acrimonious dispute with a hijab enforcer in a city bus was identified as Sepideh Rashno, an educated person with a good public profile, Iran International has learned. 

Rashno – a 28-year-old artist, writer and editor – was arrested on Saturday evening, July 16, after a video of her quarrel with a woman enforcing hijab rules – identified as Rayeheh Rabi’i -- went viral. 

In the video Rabi’i, who was fully covered by a long, black ‘chador’ – which is typical of the supporters of the Islamic Republic – is seen shouting at Rashno who had unveiled in the transit bus. The quarrel became so frantic that other passengers intervened and kicked the hijab enforcer out of the bus. 

Rabi’i was also recording the incident and threatening the hijab-protester to send it to the Revolutionary Guards. There are unconfirmed reports on social media that Rabi’i’s father is a member of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij paramilitary force and was involved in the crackdown of popular protests in 2009. 

Some government officials, including the head of the Islamic Development Organization, have praised Rabi’i and called on people to confront women who unveil in public. 

IRGC affiliated Fars news broke the news which could frighten people whose support for anti-hijab protests are growing, adding that several other anti-hijab activists had also been arrested since Iranian women launched a campaign against the compulsory Islamic dress code on July 12. 

In another video released this week, a man started berating a few teenage girls who had removed their hijab at a subway station in Tehran, but other people came to help and sent the angry man away. The number of videos of confrontations between anti-hijab protesters and hijab enforcers are growing in social media. 

In a statement released on Sunday, Iran’s exiled queen Farah Pahlavi condemned the widespread arrests of civil and human rights activists in Iran, particularly the anti-hijab activists. 

Denouncing the violent behavior of the morality – or hijab – police while arresting the protesters, she said that “not a day goes by without news and images of attacks on women and violation of their rights, disturbing the souls of noble Iranians, but the news of the civil struggle of women and men of my land against any kind of coercion and discrimination is a source of pride and honor.”

Iranians deserve peaceful coexistence no matter their beliefs, clothing or lifestyle as it was like this before the Islamic Revolution and will become so thanks to people, she said. 

She noted that the will and civil courage of Iranian men and women is greater and stronger “than the oppressors’ power.”

On July 12, following a call by women’s rights activists for civil disobedience with the hashtag of ‘No2Hijab’ social media exploded with dozens of videos and photos of women unveiling in public.

Iran has started arresting women who participated in the nationwide campaign against the compulsory Islamic dress code this week.

For the past few weeks, the government has increased harassment of women for their insufficient hijab and many have been detained by special police patrols.

The video started circulating on social media on Saturday, a few days after Iranian women launched a campaign against the compulsory Islamic dress code, or hijab. 

In the video a woman fully covered by a long, black ‘chador’ – which is typical of the supporters of the Islamic Republic – is seen shouting at a woman who had unveiled in a transit bus. The quarrel became so frantic that other passengers intervened and kicked the hijab enforcer out of the bus. She was also recording the incident and threatening the hijab-protester to send it to the Revolutionary Guards. 

Some people on social media express doubt that police has been able to identify the hijab challenger in a matter of hours, and they regard the news by the Fars as only a tactic to frighten people whose support for anti-hijab protests are growing. 

In another video released this week, a man started berating a few teenage girls who had removed their hijab at a subway station in Tehran, but other people came to help and sent the angry man away. 

However, Iran has started arresting women who participated in the nationwide civil disobedience campaign against the compulsory Islamic dress code this week.

On July 12, following a call by women’s rights activists for civil disobedience with the hashtag of ‘No2Hijab’ social media exploded with dozens of videos and photos of women unveiling in public.

Similar to previous rounds of protests, which have become more frequent on the backdrop of economic hardship, pensioners called on the government to increase pensions by 38 percent, as stipulated by the Supreme Labor Council. Retirees are demanding pension increases more on par with rising prices of essential foods, saying that the current payments are not in line with decrees by the Council.

According to videos published on social media, about 20 cities across the country, including capital Tehran, Kerman, Ardabil, Esfahan, Rasht, Mashhad, Tabriz, Khorramshahr and Ahvaz, were the scene of large protest rallies.

The retirees gathered in front of the governorate buildings or the provincial offices of the Social Security Organization, which is in charge of paying pensions.

They chanted slogans against President Ebrahim Raisi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf such as “Death to Raisi” and “Death to Ghalibaf” as well as other insults about the clergy, whom many people blame for the dire situation in the country. 

With food prices rising faster after four years of United States’ ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions, Iranian workers and retirees have been holding regular protests or strikes to demand higher salaries. Last month, Iran’s currency fell to a historic low of 333,000 rials to the US dollar in June.

During the past weeks, widespread protests by workers,shop owners, and teachers protesting against poverty, inflation, and low wages, have been met with heavy-handed crackdown and numerous arrests by the security forces.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet tweeted on Friday to hail the historic conviction of a former Iranian official for his role in the 1988 summary executions of political prisners. 

She also called on other countries to “use universal jurisdiction to bridge the accountability gap for serious crimes and ensure truth and justice.”

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, also praised the decision for the Iranian prosecutor and prison official, saying, “The process and verdict in Sweden constitute a landmark and important leap forward in the pursuit of truth and justice for a dark chapter in Iranian history. It is also a clear signal that denial, despite substantive evidence, and impunity can no longer be tolerated.”

“I urge other States to take on similar investigation and prosecution of serious human rights violations in Iran using principles of universal jurisdiction,” he added, reiterating calls for accountability for the summary executions and enforced disappearances in 1988. “However, the events continue to be denied by Iranian authorities. I hope this verdict is a first step towards full truth, justice and compensation for victims, their families and civil society organizations that persist in their demands for justice”.

Amnesty International had also lauded the decision earlier, saying the sentence “sends an unequivocal, and long overdue, message to the Iranian authorities that those responsible for crimes against humanity in Iran will not escape justice.

On Friday, the French foreign ministry specifically named the three Iranian award-winning filmmakers who were arrested on July 8 and 11 – namely Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Aleahmad.

Earlier in the week, the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlinale, the European Film Academy and the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk also called for the immediate release of the prominent filmmakers.

Panahi, who has won numerous awards, including the Golden Leopard at Locarno Festival, the Golden Lion in Venice, and the Silver Bear at the Berlinale, was arrested July 11 as he was protesting the detention of two other award-winning filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Alehahmad.

Rasoulof – another prominent filmmaker with several international awards such as the Golden Bear – and Alehahmad – who is known in international film galas for his short works -- were arrested July 8 as part of the Iranian crackdown on the signatories of a collective statement titled “Lay down the gun” issued by more than 100 film industry personalities in the end of May.

The statement called on military and security forces who “have become tools for cracking down on the people,” not to suppress protesters during a wave of protests across Iran that were triggered when a 10-story building collapsed in Abadan, leaving at least 40 people dead and dozens missing.