The Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS) has launched a human rights campaign to free Shiva Kamalipour Azad, the courageous 29 year-old journalist who was arrested this week and is being held in solitary confinement at a political prisoners’ ward in Evin Prison.
She is being treated as a priority case because of the intense interest the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) have shown in her opposition activities in support of a secular democracy, and because security forces arrested her twice in one week. The most recent arrest, on April 25, took place in her grandfather’s home in the middle of the night – a sign that the authorities treat her as a top political threat.
Concerns are especially heightened because of recent reports that the authorities use rape as a weapon to dehumanize political prisoners and to break their spirit.
