Iranian Activists Protest Islamic Scholar's Arrest For Criticizing Supreme Leader

In response to the arrest of a Islamic scholar Sedigheh Vasmaghi, imprisoned for criticizing compulsory hijab laws and Iran's Supreme Leader, 320 Iranian political and civil activists have campaigned for her release.

The activists called for the immediate release of all political and ideological prisoners in Iran, particularly Vasmaghi who “has shown over the past four decades her care and concern for both Iran and Islam.”

The campaigners pointed out the reversal of the promises made in 1979 on the founding of the Islamic Republic, when it had promised freedom and justice at its inception.

Security forces arrested Vasmaghi, 63, on March 16 and subsequently transferred her to the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran. The arrest came after the scholar described Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a dictator and the ruling system as oppressive, slamming the compulsory hijab laws which have been at the heart of the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom movement.

She was arrested while attending the funeral of 16-year-old Armita Geravand, killed by hijab-enforcement agents in the Tehran metro last year.

Vasmaghi suffers from ill health and her condition has deteriorated since her arrest. Iran’s judiciary, however, has denied her sufficient medical treatment and has repeatedly denied her hospital treatment.