Iran Sends A Woman Politician To Solitary Confinement
By Countercurrents.org
03 January, 2013
Countercurrents.org
A jailed politician, a woman, in Iran has been sent to solitary confinement.
Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, the jailed daughter of the former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been moved to solitary confinement, the BBC has learned*.
A spokesman for Iran's judiciary said Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani was moved as punishment for her behavior in jail.
Faezeh Rafsanjani began a six-month prison sentence in September after being found guilty earlier this year of "spreading anti-state propaganda".
The former MP is the most politically active of Rafsanjani's children.
She has been active in a series of protests among women political prisoners against what they say are arbitrary and illegal restrictions on prisoners, BBC Persian's Kasra Naji reports.
Her brother was recently freed from same prison, Evin in Tehran, after posting a hefty bail. He had been accused of corruption.
Their detention has been a big talking point in Iran.
Observers say their father is coming under pressure from Islamist hardliners within Iran's judiciary who are concerned that he may decide to run again in next year's presidential elections.
One of the founders of the Islamic Republic, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was president of Iran from 1989 to 1997.
For almost three decades he was seen as one of the most influential politicians in Iran, with a reputation in the West as a key pragmatist.
But he is regarded as a figure that could mobilize the opposition at a time of increasing tension in Iran on both domestic and foreign policy issues.
About a year ago, on January 3, 2012, it was reported that Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani has been sentenced to six months in prison for "making propaganda against the ruling system".
Faezeh's trial took place behind closed doors last month.
At that time the website Mashregh News reported: Faezeh has been banned from taking part in political, cultural and media activities for five years.
In interviews prior to the trial Faezeh gave interviews in which she defended her father's position - and this appears to be her offence.
She was briefly detained in February 2011 after taking part in a banned protest march.
The former president's website was recently shut down.
In 2009, during the protests that followed president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial re-election, Rafsanjani angered hard-liners by calling for the release of detained opposition members. In March 2011 he lost his position as head of Iran's highest clerical body, the Assembly of Experts.
* BBC, “Iran moves Rafsanjani daughter to solitary confinement”, Dec. 31, 2012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20878804
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