26 September 2016 :
With an appeal to the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Hands Off Cain asks the liberation of human rights defender Narges Mohammadi, as well as that of all persons detained in Iran for their commitment to the defense and exercise of human rights as universally recognized.The history of Narges Mohammadi, a lawyer, is that of an Iranian activist, committed to the defense of those sentenced to death and in the abolition of capital punishment, who in the years has gained international recognition to the point of getting the Alexander Langer Award in 2009, but who, for the same reason, was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison.
She is formally accused of planning crimes against Iran's security, of propaganda against the government, and to have promoted an illegal political group, which would be the association against the death penalty "Step by step against the death penalty".
In fact, it is her militant commitment that they want to suppress by imprisonment and by a whole host of harassment, such as the impediment to telephone to her to nine years old twin sons living in Paris, and with all those violations of human rights which distinguish the conditions of detention of all political prisoners with whom she is restricted in Evin prison, such as the denial of medical care and hospitalization, the limitations on visitation rights, and poor and inadequate nutrition.
"We are shocked by the permanence in Ms. Mohammadi in prison, who on September 19 filed an appeal against the final verdict of May.
We consider it unacceptable that Iran, that already hold the world record for the number of executions compared to the population, even comes to haunt in so violent forms those who work for the defense of those sentenced to death" said Elizabeth Zamparutti, Treasurer of Hands Off Cain, who then continued:
"We know that the Minister Gentiloni, during the recent visit to Italy of Mohammad Javad Larijani, Secretary General of Iran's Council for Human Rights, stressed Italy's opposition to the use of the death penalty in Iran – a fact totally censored by the Iranian press - and for this reason we believe that our government should join the international community of voices calling for the release of Narges Mohammadi, and others in her condition, also taking advantage of the occasion of the UN General Assembly."
Hands Off Cain, as it did for the scientist Omid Kokabee, detained and ill with cancer, is now launching a campaign on social media with the objective of the liberation of Ms. Nages: #FreeNages and # MovingRights4Iran