Front Line is deeply concerned following the sentencing of women's rights defender Hana Abdi to five years' imprisonment.

Further Information

Posted 23/06/2008 Hana Abdi is a member of the Kurdish women's rights organisation, Azar Mehr, in Iranian Kurdistan, and an active member of the One Million Signatures Campaign which aims to end discriminatory laws against women. She is twenty-one years old.

Hana Abdi has been in detention since 4 November 2007, when she was arrested by security officers in the City of Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, Iran. She has been charged with taking part in a gathering and colluding to commit a crime against national security. Hana Abdi was issued with the maximum sentence allowed in such circumstances.

Front Line believes that Hana Abdi has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment as a result of her legitimate work in defence of human rights, in particular her work for women's rights and those of the Kurdish community in Iran.