Bahareh Hedayat

Bahareh Hedayat (Persian: بهاره هدایت, born 1981) is an Iranian activist[1] and campaigner for women's rights. She was one of the activists who worked on the One Million Signatures campaign to change laws that discriminate against women in Iran. She has been arrested and imprisoned several times.

Bahareh Hedayat
بهاره هدایت
Born1981 (age 41–42)
Tehran, Iran
NationalityIranian
Occupation(s)Activist, political prisoner
Notable workOne Million Signatures campaign

Life

Hedayat is a founding member of a petition for women's rights in Iran known as the "One Million Signatures campaign".[2][3]

She graduated from the University of Economic Sciences in Tehran.[4] She was a student at the University of Tehran in the School of Economics.[5][6]

On June 14, 2016, the United Nation's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion demanding Hedayat's immediate release, her imprisonment since 2009 being arbitrary and against international law.[7] Hedayat experienced severe negligence and was denied access to her medical needs at various times throughout her imprisonment. She was also on occasion denied family visits and phone calls. During her time in prison, Hedayat translated Dave Eggers book The Circle and David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas from English to Persian all by hand and with the help of a dictionary.

Arrests and imprisonment


She was arrested on July 9, 2007, and on August 9, 2007, but released on bail. She was again arrested and released in 2008[8] and in 2010 was sentenced to nine and a half years imprisonment[9] for anti-state propaganda.[10][11][12][13]

Hedayat was arrested for her participation in a peaceful gathering to condemn the downing of the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 by Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in January 2020 and has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison. [14][15]

On 10 February 2020, Bahareh was arrested by Tehran University security police. She was later taken to Qarchak prison. There she started a hunger strike.[16][17]

Hedayat was again arrested by security forces in Tehran on Monday, October 11, 2022, amid the Mahsa Amini protests. After eight days of detention, in a phone call, she informed her family that she was in ward 209 of Evin prison and did not know the reason for her arrest, nor the charges against her.[18]

She started a hunger strike on August 31, 2023.[19]

Awards and recognition

In 2012 Hedayat was awarded the Edelstam Prize for outstanding contributions and exceptional courage in standing up for one's beliefs in defense of Human Rights.

See also

References
  1. "Iran Gives West One-Month 'Ultimatum' to Accept Nuclear Counterproposal". The New York Times. 2 January 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  2. "Iran: Free Women Activists". Human Rights Watch. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  3. "Raynell Andreychuk: The persecution of Bahareh Hedayat". National Post. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  4. List of 29 Iranian students in prison
  5. "Day 12: Spotlighting Bahareh Hedayat, Iran – Nobel Women's Initiative". Nobel Women's Initiative. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  6. "Bahareh Hedayat: Women's Rights Defender - Tavaana Article". tavaana.org. Tavaana. Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  7. Opinion No. 2/2016 concerning Bahareh Hedayat
  8. "Iran arrests two prominent student activists". Daily Times (Pakistan). 15 July 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  9. "Iran Presses Opposition With Attacks and Jail Time". The New York Times. 21 May 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  10. "Jailed Iranian students start hunger strike". Reuters. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  11. Dehghan, Saeed Kamali (12 August 2015). "Iran refuses to free student activist Bahareh Hedayat after six years in jail". theguardian.com. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  12. Dehghan, Saeed Kamali (16 September 2015). "Iran's Rouhani urged to release student activist Bahareh Hedayat". theguardian.com. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  13. Shirin Ebadi (28 November 2013). "Women Rising". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  14. Prominent Activist Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Protesting Downing of Ukrainian Passenger Plane
  15. Beaten During Arrest Prominent Iranian Female Activist On Hunger Strike
  16. Beaten During Arrest Prominent Iranian Female Activist On Hunger Strike
  17. Iran Moves to Silence Journalists, Activists Ahead of Parliamentary Elections
  18. "بهاره هدایت را در بند ۲۰۹ اوین محبوس کرده‌اند" [Bahareh Hedayat has been locked up in Ward 209 of the Evin Prison] (in Persian). 12 October 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  19. "اعلام اعتصاب غذای «بهاره هدایت»؛ در اعتراض به جان‌باختن «جواد روحی» در زندان" [Announcing the hunger strike of Barehe Hedayat In protest of the death of Javad Rouhi in prison]. صدای آمریکا (in Persian). 2 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
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