Atena Farghadani Is A 28-year-old Iranian Artist. She Was Recently Sentenced To 12 Years And 9 Months

Atena Farghadani is a 28-year-old Iranian artist. She was recently sentenced to 12 years and 9 months in prison for drawing a cartoon.

This cartoon, that she posted on her Facebook page last year, depicts members of the Iranian parliament as animals. It was drawn in protest of new legislature in Iran that will restrict access to contraception and criminalise voluntary sterilisation. Atena’s charges include ‘spreading propaganda against the system’ and ‘insulting members of parliament through paintings’.

Last August, 12 members of the elite Revolutionary Guard came to Atena’s house, blindfolded her and took her to the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran. According to Amnesty International:

“While in prison last year, Atena flattened paper cups to use them as a surface to paint on. When the prison guards realised what she had been doing, they confiscated her paintings and stopped giving her paper cups. When Atena found some cups in the bathroom, she smuggled them into her cell. Soon after, she was beaten by prison guards, when she refused to strip naked for a full body search. Atena says that they knew about her taking the cups because they had installed cameras in the toilet and bathroom facilities – cameras detainees had been told were not operating.”

She was released in November and gave media interviews and posted a video on YouTube detailing her beatings, constant interrogations and humiliating body searches. She was then rearrested possibly in retaliation for speaking out and has been imprisoned ever since. In January, Atena went on a hunger strike to protest the horrible prison conditions. Her health suffered dramatically, and after losing consciousness and suffering a heart attack in February, she was forced to eat again.

The quote used in the comic is taken from the speech Atena gave at her trial. It has been translated into English by the Free Atena Facebook page. You can read the whole thing here.

Time is now against her, she has just two weeks to lodge an appeal. Michael Cavna, comic journalist for The Washington Post, has launched a campaign appealing to artists to help bring awareness to Atena’s case by creating their own artwork in support of Atena and using the hashtag#Draw4Atena. Can a bunch of artists and a hashtag really make a difference and put pressure on the Iranian Government to release Atena? Probably not. But just remember that Atena is currently in prison enduring horrible conditions, and if her appeal isn’t successful, she will be there for another twelve years. FOR DRAWING A CARTOON AND POSTING IT ON FACEBOOK. Don’t we owe it to her to at least try?

Alot worse actually happens out there.. once Being a soldier (which turned me into an activist) showed me..

Signal boost.

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Dear Followers, What You See Here Is An Issue Taking Place In The Heart Of South Africa. Now, I’ve

Dear followers, what you see here is an issue taking place in the heart of South Africa. Now, I’ve been debating for sometime now on whether to make this post or not. Time and time again, I’ve thought “but this doesn’t appeal to them. My followers are not South African”. And it finally dawned on me today that, it doesn’t matter whether you’re South African or not. This is a revolution the youth of my country are fighting for. And it’s not an issue that any other country hasn’t faced. I am sick and tired of sitting back and have CNN and world news stations send me countless updates on the Rugby World Cup and news of a single psychopath killing at least one person in Sweden when the whole youth of SA is in uproar against the corruption and apathy of our government. People around the world should be exposed to this kind of activity, regardless of where it is. If anything, I find this situation very similar to that of the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the states. So please take the time to read this and share it. You can have your own opinions on the matter, but at least don’t be ignorant to what happening around you in the world. This could be your country one day.

All across South Africa, tertiary education systems have been shut down due to protests against tuition fees increases. Many people are in dire situations and consequently cannot afford the 10% increases of fees every year and as a result get financially excluded, thus ending any opportunity of education that they are entitled to. Now I know that this is an economical issue that the government has to sort out and South Africa has had economical issues for quite sometime but it has taken way too long for the people of this country to realise that the government is spending BILLIONS of rands on trivial things such as nuclear deals, VIP jets, Etoll projects in addition to losses from inadequate handling of petrol and post office companies. This money could’ve been used to fund millions of students across the country and their education but yet the government continues to horde it and act like nobody notices what they’re doing with our tax money. I do not agree with the mentality that “if you cannot afford it, then don’t go to university” or even “you should work harder for what you want”. Whilst these arguments each have their own backing, I don’t believe that students should have their opportunities taken away simply because our government is run by greedy pigs exploiting the people of this country for their money.

The pictures above are only a squint at the events taking place nationwide. Yesterday, thousands of students marched to Parliament in Cape Town city centre in order to have our voices heard. Instead, we were met with the apathetic attitude of our ministers, and even our own president refused to show face and address the crowd. The march was meant to be peaceful, but when the students furthered demanded response from government, they set the police on the crowd and chaos ensued. Rubber bullets, stun grenades, tear gas, armed forces, army brigade worth armour were all used. The level of police brutality on students was absolutely disgusting. How can they respond in such a manner when all we did was demand our voices be heard? When all we want is our right to fair and equal education? Several students were arrested and charged with ‘terrorism’ and ‘high treason’. And now the media even has the balls to go and lie about it. The South African youth is in a dire situation here. What must we do when our own government refuses to listen to us? When the ones that are supposed to be protecting us turn and attack us?

Again, this is only a squint at what has been happening in South Africa. Please google up on what has been happening as I don’t have the capacity to cover it all in one post. There are tons of videos and articles available. Because of all this, many students have had their rights violated, they are subjected to enormous amounts of stress especially because exams are around the corner, and some are even suffering from severe trauma from this. Nobody deserves this no matter what side of the argument they are on.

I, as a student caught in all this have been feeling overwhelmingly sad, confused, disgusted and generally frustrated in light of the events from the past week.

Started off feeling quite positive that substantive action has been taken by brave students and that a revolution away from oppression and marginalisation is finally underway. But the way in which the authorities and other people have been reacting to the movement makes me extremely upset.

I apologise for the long post and the rant, and I’ll probably lose followers for this but all I ask from you guys, is that you share this and inform others around the world of what’s happening. That you stand in solidarity with us. Don’t just like the post, reblog it too! If our own government will not listen to us, then maybe international pressure will do something. Help us have our voices heard.

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