Iran Human Rights (IHR); December 14, 2020: Hoda Amid and Najmeh Vahedi, two women's rights activists, have been sentenced to a total of 15 years imprisonment for holding educational marriage workshops.
According to Iran Human Rights, Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Salavati sentenced Hoda Amid to eight years in prison, a two year ban on certain social rights and a two year ban from practicing law. Najmeh Vahedi was sentenced to seven years in prison and a two year ban on certain social rights.
The two women’s rights activists were charged with “collaborating with the hostile America against the Islamic Republic on women and family issues.” According to the verdict, by holding educational marriage workshops on “terms of marriage” and “dowry and housework”, the two women were working “in line with the project of infiltration by weakening the foundation of the family with the aim of overthrowing (the government)” and “collaborating with the hostile America against the Islamic Republic on women and family issues.”
Najmeh Vahedi is a sociologist and currently studying for her postgraduate degree in women’s studies and Hoda Amid is a lawyer. The two women were running the educational workshops on “terms of marriage” to educate women on their rights and laws governing marriage and the family.
Hoda Amid and Najmeh Vahedi were arrested in their homes by security forces on 1 September 2018 and spent more than two months in the IRGC’s 2A security ward and were eventually released on bail.