{"id":679,"date":"2015-06-18T16:41:36","date_gmt":"2015-06-18T16:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.bashariyat.org\/?p=679"},"modified":"2019-05-05T21:55:22","modified_gmt":"2019-05-05T21:55:22","slug":"lawyer-and-client-accused-of-illegitimate-relations-for-a-handshake-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.bashariyat.org\/?p=679","title":{"rendered":"Lawyer and Client Accused of \u201cIllegitimate Relations\u201d for a Handshake in Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update: Mohammad Moghimi was released from Rajaee Shahr Prison on bail of 20 million toman (approximately $60,000) on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 17, 2015.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Atena\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Mohammad Moghimi, a defense lawyer who was imprisoned for shaking the hand of his client, the imprisoned artist and civil activist Atena Faraghdani, during a prison visit, will be released on June 16 after his family posted bail, a source close to Mr. Moghimi\u2019s family told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr. Moghimi, who has been in custody at Rajaee Shahr Prison since June 13 after his meeting with Ms. Faraghdani at Evin Prison, received bail orders of 20 million toman (approximately $60,000) from Branch 4 of Evin Prison Court, which his family paid on June 15. Officials told the family that he would be released on June 16, although at press time he was not yet released.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mohmmad Moghimi was charged with \u201cnon-adultery illegitimate relations\u201d for shaking hands with his female client. He had gone to Evin Prison to meet Ms. Faraghdani and to prepare an appeal request for her 12-year prison sentence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A source close to Atena Faraghdani told the Campaign that Ms. Faraghdani\u2019s family was able to see her the day after the incident. \u201cAtena was in very bad shape and could not concentrate. She kept begging her family \u2018to tell everyone that all she did was shake hands,\u2019\u201d said the source, adding, \u201cAtena was excited to see her lawyer, so she offered her hand and the lawyer shook hands with her. This happened in the presence of two agents in the room. Atena apologized for this right there\u2026but the agents didn\u2019t let it go and took her back to her prison ward and arrested Mr. Moghimi right there.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The source told the Campaign that Ms. Faraghdani was transferred to Evin Prison Courts on June 14. \u201cShe was so upset, she couldn\u2019t explain to her family what exactly happened in court, unfortunately. All she told them was that she was accused of \u2018non-adultery illegitimate relations\u2019 in court,\u201d said the source, adding, \u201cBut a handshake is not illegitimate relations!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The source told the Campaign that the family remains hopeful that Ms. Faraghdani\u2019s sentence of 12 years and nine months in prison would be overturned at appeal. \u201cWe had hoped the appeals court would overrule this heavy sentence. But now, with this new incident, it\u2019s not clear what will happen. But if this story grows bigger and affects the ruling, and brings additional punishment for Atena, her family will surely sue for defamation. How is it possible to treat \u2018illegitimate relations\u2019 and shaking hands equally?!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ms. Faraghdani was sentenced to 12 years and nine months in prison on charges of \u201cassembly and collusion against national security,\u201d \u201cpropaganda against the state,\u201d and \u201cinsulting the Supreme Leader, the President, Members of the Parliament, and the interrogating prison agents\u201d inside the IRGC\u2019s Ward 2-A.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Evidence of Ms. Faraghdani\u2019s insulting state officials was presented in court in the form of a cartoon she drew and published on her Facebook page of the Members of the Parliament as various animals. Critical posts on her Facebook page and visits with families of political prisoners and those killed at Kahrizak Detention Center during the post-2009 election unrest comprised the other evidence against her.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, Fars News Agency claimed in a June 8 article that the reason for Ms. Faraghdani\u2019s arrest and her heavy sentence was not her drawings, but her relationship with the Baha\u2019i community. Fars alleged that Ms. Faraghdani \u201cjoined the Baha\u2019i community following the 2009 \u2018sedition\u2019 to oppose the Islamic state.\u201d The article alleges that her contact with former political prisoner Mohammad Nurizad is evidence of her Baha\u2019i relations. The Baha\u2019i are one of the most persecuted minorities in Iran.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Atena Faraghdani studied painting at Tehran\u2019s Al-Zahra University. Security agents arrested the painter and civil activist on August 24, 2014, and transferred her to IRGC\u2019s Ward 2-A inside Evin Prison. She was released on bail on November 2, 2014.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She published a video of herself, in which she spoke about an incident of aggressive strip search by female prison guards inside a solitary cell at Evin Prison. She said in the video that she had been ordered to take off her clothes, which she had refused. The video was widely viewed and discussed on social media networks in Iran. After the video was published, she was summoned to Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court on January 10, 2015, arrested, and transferred to Gharchak Prison in Varamin, outside Tehran.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ms. Faraghdani embarked on a hunger strike to protest her transfer to the deplorable Gharchak Prison, where political prisoners are not separated from hardened criminals, in violation of the principle of the separation of prisoners. After her health deteriorated severely and she was transferred to a hospital on February 26, 2015, judicial authorities ordered her transfer back to Evin Prison on March 2, where she has been ever since.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to our laws, activities on social networks on the Internet are not recognized as crimes. In democratic countries, drawing cartoons to criticize those in power is an accepted practice. My client is an artist who expresses her thoughts through drawing cartoons, and she meant to criticize those in power,\u201d Mohammad Moghimi told the Campaign.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Update: Mohammad Moghimi was released from Rajaee Shahr Prison on bail of 20 million toman (approximately $60,000) on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 17, 2015.<\/p>

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