“ Free Roya Now”

#FreeRoyaNow      #FreeRoya

A British woman initially sentenced to 20 years and later reduced to 7 years in prison in Iran for posting an anti-government comment on Facebook

Roya Saberinejad Nobakht, 49, is a British-Iranian citizen who has been in prison in Iran since October 2013. She has been subjected to physical and psychological torture.

On 14 April 2014, after being incarcerated & tortured in the notorious Evin prison for 5 months, she was sentenced to 20 years. During the trial her lawyer was present but not allowed to speak on her behalf. later in 2014 her sentence was reduced to 7 years in prison in Iran.

 

Her “crime” was expressing views about Iran’s Islamic régime on her Facebook page. She was charged with "gathering and participation with intent to commit crimes against national security" and "insulting Islamic sanctities", a crime which is punishable by death. For that, she was, along with 6 men & 1 other woman, sentenced by the Tehran Revolutionary Court to a total of 123 years. All the 7 prisoners were released more than two months ago ( around  June 2016) but Roya is still kept in prison.

She has been subjected to physical and psychological torture, insults and humiliation. She has been deprived of regular access to her medication, she was forced to stand outside in winter, in the cold, wearing wet clothes which have resulted in kidney problems & she has been refused essential medication. She has been held in solitary confinement and been subjected to interrogation lasting several hours.

Roya Saberinejad Nobakht joined her husband in Stockport - Manchester in 2007. She was arrested in October 2013 while visiting her family in Iran.

This is not the first time that the authorities in Iran have arrested tortured and even executed individuals with dual citizenship. Some examples are: Zahra Bahrami, a Dutch citizen executed in 2011, Zahra Kazemi: a Canadian citizen executed in 2003, Hamid Ghasemi-Shall: a Canadian citizen who was sentenced to death but release in 2013, Saeed Malekpour and Hossein Derakhshan, a Canadian resident and a Canadian citizen, both still in prison in Iran.

 “Free Roya Now” campaign has been launched to persuade people in the UK to support Roya Saberinejad Nobakht. She is a British citizen and it is the responsibility of the British Government to put pressure on the régime in Iran to release Roya Saberinejad Nobakht immediately.

HELP us bring her home

post your message of solidarity on the following page:

https://www.facebook.com/freeroyanow

http://jimmywalesfoundation.org/roya-nobakht-uk-iranian-woman-imprisoned-in-iran-for-facebook-posts/