When we Iranians think of Shirzan (lioness), the name Fatemeh Sepheri enters our mind.
Fatemeh Sepheri is a political activist currently in jail for speaking truth to power, something that the Islamic Republic in Iran don’t like.
When you think of a political activist actively calling for the supreme leader to resign, her image may not come to mind. She is religious, lives in a religious city and her husband was a war veteran in the Iran Iraq war.
Yet, she is amazing. While she was unable to fully reach her educational potential when younger, she persisted and at the age of 40 passed her university entrance exam. She now has a Bachelor Degree in Business Management.
Alongside her brother, she signed the Statement of 14 Political Prisoners calling for Ali Khamenei to not inly resign, but also calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic and replacing it wit ha secular democracy. It takes a lot of guts to openly call for this and put your name and face to such a statement. Pure courage.
She also protested in support of others and for that alongside her other activities, she has been jailed, tortured, kept in solitary confinement and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
To see this fearless woman in action, watch this interview with Masih Alinejad:
There are few who will speak up. For those that do, we are indebted to their courage and their tenacity to continue to advocate. In her own words:
I, Fatemeh Sepehri, was mistreated by [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini’s lackeys in the Foundation of Martyrs [and Veteran Affairs] after my husband’s martyrdom in 1982.”
“They took everything from my child and me, even the carpet under [our feet]. No one was accountable until Sept. 21, 2022, when cronies of [Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei in the Ministry of Intelligence arrested me in my house,” she noted.
“On orders from Khamenei, they [authorities] stopped my stipend and kept me in solitary confinement for 31 days,” Ms. Sepehri explained. “I was taken to Imam Reza Hospital after my health deteriorated severely. I was returned to Vakilabad Prison at 4 am on October 24 and transferred to cellblock 5. They let me out of my cell for one hour daily to get fresh air.”
“My brief phone calls are monitored,” she explained. “The prison doctor has diagnosed the chronic pain in my hand for which I have received cortisone shots. The judge, in my case, has ruled against continued medical treatment for me.”
“My temporary detention was renewed three times until Dec. 22, 2022, when the presiding judge at Branch 143 [Revolution Court] convicted me of spreading lies about election fraud in the 2009 election, the death of 1,500 people in November 2019 protests, and selling the interests of Iran to China and Russia. I was not in the court when the judge handed me a one-year prison sentence and fined me $500,” Sepehri said.
“Hadi Mansouri, a well-known judge, presided over the second trial proceeding on Feb. 6, 2023, in a branch of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad [the capital of the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi],” Sepehri explained.
“The court held a sudden, secret, and illegal proceeding without prior notice to my lawyer and me. I was convicted of insulting the late and present leader, cooperation with hostile governments, and giving interviews to the opposition [news] networks,” she noted.
“I denied all charges,” Sepehri said.
“I warn the irresponsible officials in charge of the country that before we became the opponents of the system, I and millions of others were the victims of 44 years of hardships and sorrow resulting from your oppressive rule marked by misappropriation of public funds, embezzlement, rape, chronic mismanagement, war mongering, creating domestic and global insecurity and thousands of other crimes,” Sepehri added.
“We cannot tolerate you any longer. We will not rest until we have reclaimed our country,” Sepehri concluded.
Fatemeh, we are with you and call for your release. All political prisoners must be released. While Fatemeh has a political sponsor in Germany, she deserves to have more of a spotlight on her. Please write to your MP asking them to support her and continue to share her story.
Women, Life, Freedom 