Shahriyar Shams
Shahriyar Shams is a human rights defender and student activist who has been banned from studying in Iran. He has worked as a social media campaigner for prisoners’ rights and an advocate for the abolition of the death penalty in Iran. He was arrested for the first time in 2017 when he was a junior student at Azad University of Tehran, North Branch, and has been persecuted since for his advocacy for prisoners rights, particularly the right to life of those on death row, as well as the socio-economic and cultural rights of students in Iran
Human rights defenders and journalists in Iran are arrested, detained and prosecuted in unfair trials. HRDs continue to receive death threats and are subjected to harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention. They are refused bail or receive extreme bail conditions. HRDs are additionally subjected to systematic surveillance and their family members are targeted. Journalists have been subjected to flogging for criticising the government.
