Soheila Hejab
سهیلا حجاب
Born1990 (1990)
NationalityIranian
Occupation(s)lawyer
political and civil rights activist
Known forCivil rights advocacy

Soheila Hejab Bidsorkhi[1] (Persian: سهیلا حجاب, romanized: Soheila Hijab; born 1990[2]) is an Iranian lawyer, political activist, and civil rights activist.

Background and education

Hejab is an ethnic Kurd with origins in Kermanshah.[3] She obtained a law degree[4] and qualified as a human rights lawyer.[5] Hejab is known to have supported monarchism and the exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.[6]

Arrests

Hejab has been repeatedly arrested for her political and women's rights activism.[7]

Before 2019

Hejab was first arrested in January 2018 in Shiraz on charges of "assembly, collusion and propaganda against the system".[6] Another arrest followed in December 2018, when she was sentenced to two years in prison, of which she served five months.[8]

2019 arrest and allegations of mistreatment

Hejab was rearrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in June 2019 and eventually brought to Evin Prison.[6][9] In an open letter from 13 January 2020, she denounced the suppression of protests in November 2019 and called for the overthrow of what she called the "tyrannical regime".[10] In March 2020, days after her temporary release on heavy bail,[6] Hejab was sentenced to 18 years in prison after having been convicted for charges including "propaganda against the system", "forming a women's rights group" and "calling for a referendum to change the Constitution".[6][11] According to Iranian law, she has to serve 7.5 years of the sentence.[12] After an appeals court session on 23 May 2020, she was arrested and beaten by IRGC officials and brought to Qarchak Prison.[11] From within prison, she continued to call for the toppling of Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei.[3] In November 2021 it was reported that Hejab had been moved to a prison in Sanandaj.[1]

In February 2022 it was reported that Hejab had contracted COVID-19, along with 13 other prisoners in the women's ward.[13] A missive from March 2022 by the Center for Human Rights in Iran to Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet named Hejab as one of five Iranian activists who were currently sick but denied medical leave.[14] Hejab was reportedly released on medical grounds in March 2023.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 "Activist Soheila Hijab Bidsorkhi exiled to another prison in Iran". jinhaagency.com. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "Imprisoned lawyer Soheila Hijab brutalized by Evin prison guards". women.ncr-iran.org. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  3. 1 2 Weinthal, Benjamin (6 October 2021). "Iran civil rights lawyer on hunger strike due to harassment in prison". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  4. ↑ "Three more Iranian human rights attorneys slapped with unjust prison sentences". www.iranhumanrights.org/. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  5. ↑ "Custom Report Excerpts: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Burkina Faso +50 more". United States Department of State. n.d. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Activist says severely beaten and detained after attending court". Radio Farda. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  7. ↑ Ochab, Ewelina U. (13 August 2021). "More than 500 women human rights defenders unjustly imprisoned In Iran". Forbes. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  8. ↑ Stone, Pooya (10 December 2019). "Iran: A letter from Evin Prison". www.iranfocus.com/en/. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  9. ↑ "Latest situation of Soheila Hijab in Qarchak Prison". kurdistanhumanrights.org. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  10. ↑ "Human rights lawyer violently transferred to Qarchak Prison". iran-hrm.com/2020/05/25/human-rights-lawyer-violently-transferred-to-qarchak-prison/. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  11. 1 2 "Lawyer Soheila Hejab violently transferred to Qarchak Prison". women.ncr-iran.org. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  12. ↑ "Soheila Hejab". IGFM (in German). n.d. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  13. ↑ "سهیلا حجاب در بند زنان زندان کرمانشاه به کرونا مبتلا شد". RFI (in Persian). 11 February 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  14. ↑ Somerville, Hannah (10 March 2022). "UN urged to intervene amid fears Sepideh Gholian could be 'silenced forever'". iranwire.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  15. ↑ "Soheila Hejab released from Kermanshah Central Prison". hana-hr.org. 5 March 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
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