Nasibeh Shamsaei

.Nasibeh Shamsaei was arrested and sentenced to prison for protesting the mandatory hijab. Mr. Shamsaei and a group of women’s rights activists gathered at Tehran’s subway without hijabs and handed out flowers to women.

In the summer of 2019, a group of women’s rights activists was arrested and sentenced to long-term prison sentences. The cause for their arrests was a peaceful protest against the mandatory hijab. Nasibeh Shamsaei was among the activists who handed out flowers to women in Tehran’s subway and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. <symbol-timeline></symbol-timeline>

• <coverage-outsourcing id='40808'> IRGC agents arrested Nasibeh Shamsaei at her home. Years later Ms. Shamsaei told Iran Prison Atlas that before her arrest, she received a phone call from a man who claimed to be her neighbor and told her to come home quickly due to a technical issue at her building. After she arrived home the agents arrested her without offering a warrant and took her to an undisclosed location (probably an IRGC safe house). According to the transcript of the investigation which Ms. Shamsaei provided IPA, her laptop and its accessories, cellphone, SIM card, and passport were confiscated by the agents and never returned. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='40809'> She was transferred to the Ershad prosecutor’s office. The investigating judge informed her of the charges against her but did not give her the opportunity to study all the documents. Years later (August 2022) Ms. Shamsaei offered these details to IPA. She mentioned that she was later transferred to the 2-Alef ward in Evin Prison and was forced by her interrogators to call her family and tell them that she is on a trip with her friends. According to Ms. Shamsaei, she was held in solitary confinement for the next 15 days while being denied any communication with her family. During this time her family had called hospitals, police, and judicial authorities to find out her whereabouts without success. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='40810'> She was transferred to the 2-Alef ward in Qarchak prison. According to Ms. Shamsaei’s interview with IPA, during her last days at the 2-Alef ward, she was once transferred to another room for forced confessions and the interrogator told her: “Why do you look like this? Use some lipstick and show some of your hair; we want to put you on camera.” She said she didn’t grant the interrogator’s request about her looks and tried to offer one-word answers or just nod in front of the camera. The interrogators humiliated and threatened her for her women’s rights activities daily. She said: “At the time of the arrest I had long nails, the interrogator said if this was before the revolution, we would have pulled your nails out so you’d stop your activities. Suddenly the interrogator smacked me in the back of my head and said shame on you.” According to Ms. Shamsaei, the interrogators abused her in various ways and would ask her many questions about her personal relationships and her friends. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='40813'> Her case was sent to the 28th branch of the revolutionary court of Tehran. Based on a document sent to IPA, she was accused of “assembly and collusion with intent to act against national security through cooperation with the dissident network and Masih Alinejad, blasphemy, propaganda against the regime, providing and encouraging corruption through removing hijab in public places, encouraging people to wrong-doing, and insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic.” </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='40811'> She was released in late September after receiving a suspended sentence from the 28th branch of the revolutionary court of Tehran presided by Judge Moghiseh. Ms. Shamsaei told IPA that she is not aware of the details of the verdict because she has not received it. But the court secretary told her that her sentence is five years suspended prison sentence. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='40812'> She was told at the prosecutor’s office that her sentence is no longer suspended, and due to objection by the prosecutor, the appeal court has revisited the case and revoked the suspension writ. She received the sentence verbally. IPA has reviewed some of the documents related to this case but due to the lack of access to the verdict, some of the details of the case, including the charges that led to a conviction, and the enforceable sentence. Ms. Shamsaei is also not aware of the enforceable sentence after the application of article 134 of the IPC. Based on the case documents and the interview with Ms. Shamsaei, IPA concludes that she was probably convicted of the charges of blasphemy, assembly, collusion to act against national security, and insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic; if true, she is to serve five years in prison. In her interview, Ms. Shamsaei told IPA that after she was informed of the verdict, they intended to transfer her to prison, but she asked to move her car before leaving for prison and left her national ID as a guarantee to return. She then exited the prosecutor’s office and after informing her family, left Iran illegally on the same day. </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='40807'> Ms. Shamsaei was arrested in Istanbul Airport when she was planning on using someone else’s documents to leave Turkey for Spain. She told IPA that since the IRGC intelligence had confiscated her documents and passport, she was forced to use illegal methods to enter and exit Turkey. According to IranWire, she was kept at the refugee camp in Edirneh. Turkish women’s rights activists and related associations objected to her arrest and Turkish websites reported on the situation. The Turkish activists objected to her arrest by the Turkish government by emulating the Inqilab Street Girls (waving a white scarf on a stick) and demanded her release. She was eventually released from Edirneh camp after 45 days. </coverage-outsourcing>