Name Atena Farghadani | ||
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Atena farghadani the right to draw
Atena Farghadani (Persian: آتنا فرقدانی, born 29 January 1987) is an Iranian artist and political activist, who was imprisoned for 18 months. Amnesty International considers her a prisoner of conscience. She was released on 3 May 2016.
Contents
- Atena farghadani the right to draw
- Help atena farghadani she s in prison for posting this cartoon on facebook
- Draw4Atena
- Arrest and Imprisonment
- Release
- Recognition
- References
In her cartoon, in which she criticized a draft law which would outlaw voluntary sterilisation and restrict access to measures of birth control, she portrayed Iranian government officials as monkeys and goats. After publishing her artworks on Facebook, she was arrested in August 2014 and jailed for three months in Evin Prison in Tehran on charges of spreading propaganda, insulting members of parliament, and insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran. She was released in November.
Help atena farghadani she s in prison for posting this cartoon on facebook
Draw4Atena
After an open letter by US-based campaign group Cartoonists Rights Network International, and an appeal by cartoonist Michael Cavna in Washington Post., the artists and cartoonists around the world began sharing their cartoons across social media to help raise awareness of her case. The #draw4atena hashtag was created in social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. The Guardian has accepted these cartoons to share them globally.
Arrest and Imprisonment
Farghadani sent letters of protest over her treatment to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, Hassan Rouhani, the President, and the Head of the Prison Service, but did not receive a reply. She then posted a video online in which she explained to the public about her experience in Evin prison and that she was being strip-searched, beaten and verbally abused by guards. In January 2015, she was arrested again. Three weeks later, she went on a hunger strike to protest against conditions at the prison. She suffered a heart attack in late February 2015.
On 1 June 2015, judge Abolghassem Salavati of the Tehran court found her guilty on these charges and sentenced her to 12 years and nine months in prison. It is believed that she is held in Gharchak jail.
In September 2015, Farghadani was charged with an "illegitimate sexual relationship short of adultery" and "indecent conduct" after shaking the hand of her lawyer Mohammad Moghimi, who visited her in prison after her trial; Moghimi was also charged. She was reported to have gone on a hunger strike in protest.
Release
On May 3, 2016 Farghadani was freed again and the charges against her were dismissed. She has expressed no intent to leave her country.
Recognition
In 2015, Farghadani received the Courage in Cartooning Award in absentia from the Cartoonists Rights Network International. Two days after her release in 2016, she received the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent.