Zahra Zehtabchi, a sociologist, is the mother of two daughters
Zahra Zehtabchi, 56, a sociologist and social science researcher, has been imprisoned in Evin prison for nine and a half years. She is a mother of two daughters named Narges and Mina.
Her father, Ali Asghar Zehtabchi, was executed in Evin prison on June 20, 1981, for supporting the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
She also lost a number of her close relatives in the 80s.
Zahra Zehtabchi was arrested on the street by the Ministry of Information agents on October 16, 2013. She was kept in solitary confinement and under interrogation until September 2014, when her first court hearing was held on August 11, 2014.
After her arrest, Ms. Zehtabchi’s husband, Seyed Javad Khoshniyat Nikou, tried to discover her condition but was also arrested and released after 22 days. Her sister Faezeh and her 20-year-old daughter, Narges, were also arrested. Narges Khoshniyat Nikou was released after 24 hours, and Faezeh Zehtabchi was released after a week.
Zahra Zehtabchi’s mother said that her daughter’s first court hearing was on August 11, 2014, and that “Zahra had a lawyer designated by the government who was only able to meet and talk to her half an hour before the court.”
Zahra’s lawyer had told her to write something, but Zahra replied that she cannot write a text that she does not accept and asked why she should write a lie.”
Her arrest was because she had posted pictures of Mojahedin martyrs on the wall.
After the first court session, the presiding judge declared her accusation of insulting Khamenei. In the first four months of her detention, Ms. Zehtabchi was held incommunicado, and during this time, she was pressured to do a television interview against herself.
Zahra Zehtabchi was finally sentenced to 10 years in prison on the charge of association with the Mojahedin organization, which the appeal court upheld.
The case of Zahra Zehtabchi is an example of the violation of human rights in Iran and the imprisonment of political prisoners without a fair trial.