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Iran: Shiva Nazar-Ahari's family accuse pro-government media of slander in run up to her May trial

The trial of human rights activist Shiva Nazar-Ahari will begin in Tehran on May 23rd 2010. This activist who has been behind bars for 11 months, continues to be held in Evin’s solitary confinement Ward 209 with another cellmate. Rooz spoke with Shiva’s mother, Shahrzad Kariman, about her daughter’s situation and living conditions in prison. She said her daughter seemed to have excellent morale and talked about how absolutely proud she was of her.

UPDATED: Iran: Imprisoned activist Shiva Nazar Ahari to go on trial for 'acts against national security'

UPDATE: Shiva Nazar's trial, due to take place on 23 May, has been postponed without a future date being set. In March 2010, Women’s human rights defender and WLUML council member, Shadi Sadr, took the extraordinary step of dedicating her International Women of Courage Award to Shiva Nazar Ahari, a young human rights activist and a member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR), currently imprisoned in Iran for ‘acts against national security’. Sadr refrained from attending the award ceremony in the U.S. in the hope that her absence would draw the international community’s attention to Nazar Ahari’s dire situation, urging the audience in a speech recorded for the event that “any measures available to you [be taken] to help to free Shiva along with other human rights activists and journalists in Iranian prisons”. According to Nazar Ahari’s mother, she will be brought to trial at Revolutionary Court No. 26 on Sunday 23 May. The offences she is being accused of carry severe penalties. Please see attached our sample letter . You can follow this link (and scroll down) to watch a series of films in Farsi on Shiva by Iranian WHRD, filmmaker and WLUML ally, Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh.

Iran: Clotilde Reiss a été libérée samedi dernier par Téhéran

La Française qui était détenue à Téhéran depuis juillet 2009 est rentrée à Paris hier. Une libération activement revendiquée par Me Abdoulaye Wade et sa diplomatie. L’universitaire française Clotilde Reiss a été libérée samedi dernier par Téhéran. Accusée d’espionnage, la Française a été arrêtée le 1er juillet 2009, dans la capitale iranienne. Il lui était reproché d’avoir filmé des sites classés sensibles et des scènes de manifestations lors des contestations électorales du 12 juin dernier. Dans les colonnes du journal Le Monde, le Président Abdoulaye Wade accuse cependant indirectement la France d’avoir retardé une libération qui était possible il y a six mois.

Iran: Shadi Sadr et Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh ont été condamnées à des peines de prison par contumace

Deux activistes féministes, Shadi Sadr et Mahboubeh Abbas-Gholizadeh, qui se trouvent à l'étranger, ont été condamnées à des peines de prison, selon l'agence Ilna. L'avocate Shadi Sadr a été condamnée à six ans de prison et 74 coups de fouet pour action contre la sécurité nationale et trouble à l'ordre public, selon son avocat Mohammad Mostaphaie.

Iran: French academic arrives home after spying conviction

A French teaching assistant whom the Iranian regime accused of spying for the west said she was "very, very happy" to be back on home turf today after a Tehran court commuted a prison sentence that had kept her in Iran for 10 months. Making a brief but emotional statement at the Elysée palace, Clotilde Reiss, 24, thanked various French and Iranian figures – including the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy – for supporting her through the ordeal and securing her release.

Iran: Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh sentenced to jail in absentia

Iran has sentenced in absentia award-winning women's rights activist Shadi Sadr and another fellow activist to jail and lashes over a protest in 2007, their lawyer told ILNA news agency on Sunday. Former MP Mohsen Armin, who is a senior member of a reformist party which backs opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, was also arrested in Tehran on Sunday, his daughter told a reformist website. The revolutionary court "has sentenced Shadi Sadr, 35, to six years in jail and 74 lashes for acting against national security and harming public order," lawyer Mohammad Mostafai said. Update on Iran: Last two women human rights defenders released from prison on heavy bail

Egypt: Government Urged to Immediately Release Detained Egyptian Ahmadis

Emergency Law used to detain citizens for two months because of their religious beliefs: The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) today urged the Minister of Interior to release immediately nine Egyptians detained under the Emergency Law for two months because of their affiliation with the Ahmadi confession. The organization called on the Public Prosecutor to order an end to the Supreme State Security Prosecutor’s investigation of all detainees on charges of “contempt of religions” and hold to account those officials responsible for the arrest and interrogation of citizens solely for exercising their constitutional right to freedom of belief and expression.

Sri Lanka: Can a Man be the Minister of Women’s Empowerment?

The announcement of the new Ministerial Portfolios has everyone talking. Who has got demoted or promoted, included or excluded, or whether the appointments are apt, or not, is a common talking point whether in Colombo or elsewhere. Amongst the surprises were the appointments of two men as Minister and Deputy Minister respectively of the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Empowerment previously known as Women’s Affairs. Cat’s Eye decided to conduct a spot poll of some women on what they thought about this choice.

Egypt: Take action to defend rights of citizens to assemble

The rights of citizens in Egypt to assemble and express their views are increasingly coming under threat. The government of Egypt has stepped up efforts to clamp down on dissent from political activist and civil society organisations. Political protests are being violently suppressed and a new law threatens the independence of civil society organisations.

سوريا: في جملة "محشورة" وخارج السياق: رئيس مجلس الشعب السوري يؤكد أن السوريات غير مواطنات

لم يكد يجف حبر التوصيات التي صدرت عن "الملتقى الوطني حول جرائم الشرف"، والتي أثارت موجة من التفاؤل حول إمكانية توجه الحكومة السورية أخيرا إلى اعتبار النساء السوريات مواطنات، عمليا وبترجمة قانونية ومؤسساتية، لا بالبيانات والتصريحات! حتى ردت ووزيرة الشؤون الاجتماعية والعمل التي عبرت مرارا وتكرارا عن استهجانها إثارة هذه القضية، مبتسمة وهي تتساءل عن مدى أهمية هذا العدد من الضحايا! وممثلي ثقافة قتل الرجال للنساء باسم الدين أو الأخلاق أو ما شابه، بتصريح محشور خارج السياق، ورد في خبر نقلته وكالة الأنباء السورية سانا، ويتحدث عن بيان عمل وزارة التدمير الاجتماعي والبطالة، التي طال ظلامها على المجتمع المدني السوري، حتى لم يعد يطاق!