Good Vibes Only weekly update

Nahid Taghavi is a German-Iranian women’s rights activist. She was arbitrarily detained in Iran for more than four years and has now returned to Germany.

Taghavi’s daughter, human rights activist Mariam Claren, has shared:

“My mother has finally come home. We don’t have the words to describe how happy we are.

“At the same time, we are grieving the four years that were taken from us and the horrors she had to endure at Evin prison.

“There are many more prisoners of conscience like my mother who are still imprisoned in Iran. Hundreds are at risk of being executed.

“The Iranian authorities must no longer enjoy impunity for their actions.”

Nahid Taghavi has been politically active for many years, since her student days. She was arrested during a visit to Tehran in October 2020. Following an unfair trial, she was sentenced to ten years and eight months in prison on fabricated charges. She was accused of belonging to an “illegal group” and conducting “propaganda activities against the state”. In reality, she was detained solely because she peacefully exercised her rights to freedom of expression.

Between the time of her arrest and her sentencing, she was held in solitary confinement for more than seven months.

Amnesty International campaigned for her release, as well as for access to health care, a lawyer, and her family. Her release must mark the first of many in Iran.