Iran imprisons 4 leaders of women's rights group

Los Angeles Times

BEIRUT - Women's rights activists in Iran scored a rare but significant victory this week when parliament decided to shelve legislation that they said would have reduced the rights of women in marriage. But yesterday, a court sentenced four of their leaders to prison.

The four women were sentenced to six months in prison for contributing to banned websites geared to women, their lawyer, Shirin Ebadi told reporters. They were identified as Mariam Hossein-khah, Nahid Keshavarz, Jelveh Javaheri, and Parvin Ardalan.

Another women's rights activist in western Iran, Zeinab Bayzeydi, was sentenced last week to four years in prison. All five were involved in an international campaign, One Million Signatures, to amass petitions demanding rights for women in the Islamic republic.

The legislation set aside Monday, the Family Protection Bill, was proposed by conservative lawmakers in July. It included several changes to the country's family law that critics said were anything but protective of families.

The bill would allow husbands to obtain religiously sanctioned "temporary" marriages or take additional wives without the consent of their first spouse. In addition, divorced women would have to pay taxes on alimony.

Iranian women's rights activists, nonprofit organizations, and celebrities worked together to fight the measure by pressuring lawmakers.