Iran sentences two women’s rights activists to total of 15 years in prison

Iran has sentenced two women’s rights activists to a total of 15 years in prison, Iranian media reported.

A court in Tehran charged Hoda Amid and Najmeh Vahedi, who were both arrested in 2018, with “collaborating with the US government against the Islamic Republic on the issue of women and the family,” Iranian news website Emteded reported on Saturday.

For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Amid, a lawyer, has been sentenced to eight years in prison and banned from practicing law for two years. Vahedi, a sociologist, has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

Amid and Vahedi had organized “marriage workshops” aimed at educating women about their rights in marriage, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a news site run by a collective of Iranian human rights advocates.

Judicial authorities have accused the two activists of trying to overthrow the regime by weakening the Iranian family.

On Saturday, Iran executed dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam, drawing condemnation from rights groups and the European Union.

Read more:

Iran court hands ‘Zombie Angelina Jolie’ Sahar Tabar 10 years in jail

Persons involved in killing of Iranian nuclear scientist arrested, official says

Iran executes dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam: Iranian media