Sepideh Qoliyan
In December 2019
Born (1994-09-23) 23 September 1994
Dezful, Khuzestan Province, Iran
NationalityIranian
Occupation(s)Women's Rights activist
Political activist
Writer
Artist
Known for2018–2019 Iranian general strikes and protests
Notable workPang Documentary[1]

Sepideh Qoliyan (Persian: سپیده قلیان, born 23 September 1994 in Dezful), is an Iranian Political activist, rusticated veterinary student and journalist from the city of Dezful.

Activism

On November 18, 2018, Sepideh Qoliyan, who had previously worked with several publications as a citizen journalist,[2] was reporting on a labor protest organized by the Workers Union of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro Industrial Company (Persian: شرکت نیشکر هفت‌تپه), when she was arrested by the Iranian security forces. Union spokesman Esmail Bakhshi and a dozen other trade unionists were also arrested during the protest.[3][4] All of those arrested, except Qolian and Bakhshi, were released within days. Qolian and Bakhshi were held without charge or legal representation for 30 days and were eventually released on bail.[5][6]

Torture

On November 29, 2018, while Qolian and Bakhshi were still detained, The Vahed Syndicate, a trade union representing over 17,000 transit workers, revealed in a statement that Esmail Bakhshi had been briefly hospitalized due to torture he had suffered while in government custody.[3] Immediately upon release, Qolian confirmed that both she and Bakhshi had been subjected to torture by the security forces.[7] Following their release on bail, Bakhshi and Qolian gave Amnesty International an account of the torture they suffered while in custody of police and ministry of intelligence officials in the cities of Shush and Ahvaz. They told Amnesty that they had been beaten, slammed against walls, shoved to the ground, humiliated with flogging, and threatened with sexual assault and murder. Qolian stated that during her daily interrogation sessions, which started around 10am and lasted until the early hours of the following morning, intelligence officials repeatedly subjected her to sexual insults such as "whore”, accused her of having sexual relationships with workers, and threatened to make sure that her family would receive information that would make them murder Sepideh for "honor".[8] This revelation led to immense public backlash, especially on Iranian social media.[9] In response to public outrage various Iranian state organizations issued denials of Qolian's accusations and characterized her and Bakhshi as instruments of foreign interest.

On January 19, 2019, the Iranian state television broadcast what it claimed to be a documentary showing that Qolian, Bakhshi, and other activists have connections to the Trump administration, communist groups and other Iranians in diaspora who pursue overthrowing of the Iranian regime.[10] The broadcast, recorded during their detention, contained videos of a visibly distraught Qolian and Bakhshi confessing to their crimes against the state. Qolian responded on Twitter that this broadcast is by itself further proof of torture.[11] Farzaneh Zilabi, Bakhshi's attorney, described the broadcast of statements obtained from her client under duress as a violation of the law. “Broadcasting of this documentary is unjustifiable and unacceptable. Now that the confidential information in this fake case have been made public through a deceptive, selective and unfair documentary, Mr. Bakhshi demands a public and transparent trial.” According to Zilabi, the broadcast was a violation of Article 96 of Iran's Criminal Procedures Regulations, which prohibits and criminalizes to reveal the identity and images of suspects before conviction.[12][13]

Rearrest

Qolian and Bakhshi were arrested again[14][15] on January 20, 2019.[16] According to Amnesty International, the timing of their arrest strongly suggests it is an attempt to silence and punish them for speaking out about the abuse they suffered in custody.[8] In a phone interview, Qolian's father told a reporter: "At 7 in the morning, 12 male and 2 female officers violently raided my home, broke my son's teeth, assaulted me and my wife, and told us they'd kill our daughter."[17][18]

Abolfazl Ghadyani, A former veteran Islamic revolutionary turned dissident, singled out Ali Khamenei as the main culprit behind all wrongdoings and injustices against Bakhshi and Qolian.[19]

After 4 years and nearly 2 months, Qolian was released from Evin prison in Tehran on 15th March 2023. Footage of her chanting anti-Khamenei slogans immediately after her release in front of the prison went viral online. Qolian was arrested again just hours after that, alongside people who took the video of her chanting. [20][21] in May 05, 2023, Mehdi Gholian, Sepideh's brother, announced on his Instagram page that Sepideh was handed the two-year sentence and now faces another stint in prison before her life could return to normal after her previous incarceration.[22][23]

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ "مستند: پنگ". YouTube.
  2. ↑ "YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  3. 1 2 "Labor Activists Say Detained Worker Tortured, Sent To Hospital". RFE/RL. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  4. ↑ "Union activists tortured in Iran as strike wave spreads". IndustriALL. 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  5. ↑ "ماجرای بازداشت دوباره "سپیده قلیان" بعد از پخش اعترافات اجباری". صدای آمریکا (in Persian). 20 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  6. ↑ Lipin, Michael (January 28, 2019). "Britain-based Transport Union Urges Iran to Free Detained Labor Activists". VOA. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  7. ↑ "Amnesty Criticizes Iran's Mass Arrests as US Frees Reporter". The New York Times. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  8. 1 2 "Labour rights activists punished for speaking out on torture". www.amnesty.org. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  9. ↑ "#سپیده_قلیان hashtag on Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  10. ↑ "خبرگزاری صدا و سیما on Instagram: "مستند #طراحی_سوخته مستند کامل در igtv #خبرگزاری_صداوسيما @iribnews.ir"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  11. ↑ "Iran: Prominent Labor Activist Rearrested". Human Rights Watch. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  12. ↑ "Iran: Release Labor Activists Re-Arrested For Revealing They'd Been Tortured". Center for Human Rights in Iran. 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  13. ↑ BBC Persian, Sepideh Gholian speaking before re-arrest (Special BBC), retrieved 2019-01-30
  14. ↑ "Iran: Prominent Labor Activist Rearrested". Human Rights Watch. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  15. ↑ "Iran arrests Ahwazi activist allegedly tortured in prison". Middle East Monitor. 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  16. ↑ "Iran arrests labour protest leader". France 24. 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  17. ↑ Alinejad, Massih (January 20, 2019). "Peyke Iran". پیک ایران. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Iran TV broadcasts activists' forced confessions, re-arrests them". Iran News Wire. 2019-01-20. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  19. ↑ "Former Supporter Says Khamenei Behind Mistreatment Of Detainees". RFE/RL. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  20. ↑ "Iranische Frauenaktivistin nach vier Jahren Haft frei". ORF.at (in German). 2023-03-15. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  21. ↑ "بازداشت مجدد سپیده قلیان و خطر اعدام یک زندانی سیاسی کرد". dw.com (in Persian).
  22. ↑ Tayebi, Ardeshir (2023-05-05). "Iranian Activist Gholian Handed Two-Year Sentence For Comments About Khamenei". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  23. ↑ "سپیده قلیان برای شعار «خامنه‌ای ضحاک، می‌کشیمت زیر خاک» به ۲ سال زندان محکوم شد" (in Persian). Voice of America. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  24. ↑ "BBC 100 Women 2022: Who is on the list this year?". 6 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
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