Translated by: Leila
To My Dear Esha,
Although you made me cry when I heard your sad voice and your outpour of tears over the phone, inside I felt proud of my little Esha who like an exceptional champion and a historic hero will triumph over the effects of an era of injustice. This feeling gives me an inner delight and the strength of a young man.
This brave woman roars like a caged lion, yet she leads a great symphony which will make the universe dance and lifts me like a light-footed angel up to the zenith of my dreams.
In hope of your immediate release,
Your concerned father
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Mention of Esha's Charges in a Press Conference
In a Tuesday press conference, the spokesperson for the Iranian Judiciary, Alireza Jamshidi, confirmed that Esha Momeni is being held in Evin prison and stated that the charge against Esha is "acting against national security." This is the first mention of any charges against Esha and it was brought up in a press conference. Esha Momeni's family have just heard this news through the Iranian media for the first time.
The charge against Esha Momeni is a common charge also brought against several women's rights advocates in the One Million Signatures Campaign, a peaceful equal rights campaign aiming at collecting signatures for a petition addressed to the members of the Iranian Parliament.
Esha, a dual citizen of US and Iran and a student in Art and Communications at Cal-State Northridge, was in Iran working on her Master's thesis. Her thesis included interviews with a few members of the One Million Signatures Campaign. Esha Momeni has not been allowed visits by her family or her lawyer since her arrest on October 15 and she is being held in solitary confinement.
http://www.ilna.ir/shownews.asp?code=455707&code1=3
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4A32ML20081104
The charge against Esha Momeni is a common charge also brought against several women's rights advocates in the One Million Signatures Campaign, a peaceful equal rights campaign aiming at collecting signatures for a petition addressed to the members of the Iranian Parliament.
Esha, a dual citizen of US and Iran and a student in Art and Communications at Cal-State Northridge, was in Iran working on her Master's thesis. Her thesis included interviews with a few members of the One Million Signatures Campaign. Esha Momeni has not been allowed visits by her family or her lawyer since her arrest on October 15 and she is being held in solitary confinement.
http://www.ilna.ir/shownews.asp?code=455707&code1=3
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4A32ML20081104
Esha Momeni has not been involved in any illegal action…
Original Article: http://www.we-change.info/spip.php?article3064
Nasrin Sotoodeh
Translated by: Leila
Change for equality-Elnaz Ansari: The Arrest of Esha Momeni, a volunteer of the One Million Signatures Campaign, is the latest reaction of security agents in regards to women’s movement. Within the two years of the commencement of the One Million Signatures Campaign, roughly 50 volunteers and activists involved in this Campaign have been arrested. In none of these cases, the assigned judges could identify the request for “Change for Equality” as an illegal movement; however Esha Momeni was arrested for this reason.
She was arrested while driving. Her family is under a lot of pressure not to talk with the media. Nasrin Sotoodeh, well known attorney of law, in her conversation with “Change of Equality” mentioned that the arrest of Esha Momeni is an illegal reaction and she warned the officials regarding the illegality of their actions.
Nasrin Sotoodeh stated: “The major issue with this arrest is the disregard for the basic principles of an arrest which requires the accuser to deliver the summon to the accused, Esha in this case, and the fact that under cover intelligence agents disguised as traffic agents stopped her car and arrested her. This ambiguous action is one of the main civil right violations that applies to Esha Momeni’s case.”
Sotoodeh described dangers of this kind of actions and said: “When we face these types of actions more often, it means we are in tremendous danger due to obstinate agents who do not follow the rules and regulations and their activities pose a threat to civilians.”
The above mentioned lawyer stated that Esha Momeni`s activities of recording and interviewing with campaign activists are not illegal and she further noted: “Ms Momeni was doing her research for an academic project which does not violate any laws, and these types of activities if it is not in the streets or public places does not require any formal permit. As long as the films are kept in a personal archive, they are considered personal properties which you can have in any home and no one is allowed to confiscate them.”
Sotoodeh also commented on the discriminatory laws against woman in regards to the situation of the members of the campaign who were interviewed by Esha, and said: “Under the laws of any land, criticizing the law is not illegal in any part of the world including Iran. In regards to the women’s rights, university professors, journalists, lawyers, and civilians have an aversion to these laws, even some judges identify these laws as injustice. If the criticizing of the law were to be illegal, thousands of people should be arrested”.
After 12 days of Esha’s arrest, there is no information available regarding her condition in the 209 section of the Evin prison and what are the charges against her.
She is one the One Million Signatures Campaign volunteers and has held a few photo exhibitions focusing on women. Esha Momeni interviewed with few of the campaign members in Iran in order to make a short film about the strength of the women rights’ activists in Iran for her master thesis.
Nasrin Sotoodeh
Translated by: Leila
Change for equality-Elnaz Ansari: The Arrest of Esha Momeni, a volunteer of the One Million Signatures Campaign, is the latest reaction of security agents in regards to women’s movement. Within the two years of the commencement of the One Million Signatures Campaign, roughly 50 volunteers and activists involved in this Campaign have been arrested. In none of these cases, the assigned judges could identify the request for “Change for Equality” as an illegal movement; however Esha Momeni was arrested for this reason.
She was arrested while driving. Her family is under a lot of pressure not to talk with the media. Nasrin Sotoodeh, well known attorney of law, in her conversation with “Change of Equality” mentioned that the arrest of Esha Momeni is an illegal reaction and she warned the officials regarding the illegality of their actions.
Nasrin Sotoodeh stated: “The major issue with this arrest is the disregard for the basic principles of an arrest which requires the accuser to deliver the summon to the accused, Esha in this case, and the fact that under cover intelligence agents disguised as traffic agents stopped her car and arrested her. This ambiguous action is one of the main civil right violations that applies to Esha Momeni’s case.”
Sotoodeh described dangers of this kind of actions and said: “When we face these types of actions more often, it means we are in tremendous danger due to obstinate agents who do not follow the rules and regulations and their activities pose a threat to civilians.”
The above mentioned lawyer stated that Esha Momeni`s activities of recording and interviewing with campaign activists are not illegal and she further noted: “Ms Momeni was doing her research for an academic project which does not violate any laws, and these types of activities if it is not in the streets or public places does not require any formal permit. As long as the films are kept in a personal archive, they are considered personal properties which you can have in any home and no one is allowed to confiscate them.”
Sotoodeh also commented on the discriminatory laws against woman in regards to the situation of the members of the campaign who were interviewed by Esha, and said: “Under the laws of any land, criticizing the law is not illegal in any part of the world including Iran. In regards to the women’s rights, university professors, journalists, lawyers, and civilians have an aversion to these laws, even some judges identify these laws as injustice. If the criticizing of the law were to be illegal, thousands of people should be arrested”.
After 12 days of Esha’s arrest, there is no information available regarding her condition in the 209 section of the Evin prison and what are the charges against her.
She is one the One Million Signatures Campaign volunteers and has held a few photo exhibitions focusing on women. Esha Momeni interviewed with few of the campaign members in Iran in order to make a short film about the strength of the women rights’ activists in Iran for her master thesis.
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