Hengameh Shahidi, a journalist and women's rights activist, began serving a six-year prison sentence in Evin Prison in Tehran on 25 February 2010, after an appeal court upheld her conviction and sentence for "gathering and colluding with intent to harm state security" and "propaganda against the system." Amnesty International considers her to be a prisoner of conscience, held solely for her peaceful political and journalistic activities.Hengameh Shahidi was an advisor on women's issues to presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi who ran in the disputed 12 June 2009 elections. She is a member of his E'temad-e Melli (National Trust) Party. The party's newspaper, E'temad was shut down by authorities on 1 March 2010.
Hengameh Shahidi had been previously detained for four months from the end of June to 1 November 2009, and has reported that she was tortured in custody and threatened with execution. At her trial on 4 November 2009, she was accused of taking part in demonstrations that protested the contested elections, giving an interview to the media, writing articles on her blog, singing statements addressed to the United Nations about human rights in Iran, and collecting signatures for the Campaign for Equality which seeks to change discriminatory laws affecting women.
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February 11th is known as Victory of the Revolution Day – equivalent to the Fourth of July in the United States; it is meant to symbolize liberty, independence and freedom. Instead, it only reminds us of how far Iran has to go in its progress toward human rights.
