Iran’s authorities have put more pressure on exiled women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad with the arrest of her brother.
Alinejad, a journalist and activist, has launched campaigns such as “White Wednesdays” and “My Stealthy Freedom”, challenging the compulsory wearing of hijab by women. She is currently a presenter and producer for the Voice of America’s Persian Service, and a contributor to other foreign-based Persian networks.
Intelligence agents raided the house of her brother Ali on Tuesday, Alinejad added. After ransacking the home and confiscating a laptop and cellphone, they handcuffed and blindfolded Ali Alinejad as they took him away.
“We have no information about my brother’s whereabouts. My mother and the family members of my brother’s wife are deeply worried,” Alinejad said Wednesday. “They have been threatened to remain silent, or else.”
"We have no information about my brother's whereabouts. My mother and the family members of my brother's wife are deeply worried," o call on all you to condemn this hostages taking https://t.co/c0x02b8wW8
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 26, 2019
Masih Alinejad wrote in July 2918 of pressure on her family to denounce her on State outlets. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting featured her sister criticizing the activist for the campaign against compulsory hijab.
See also Wind in My Hair: One Iranian Woman’s Struggle Against the Hijab
Iran: “Stealthy Freedom” – Women Photograph Themselves Without Hijab
Alinejad said Wednesday, as President Hassan Rouhani addressed the UN General Assembly, “[He] talks of hope and peace at the United Nations, and yet he is terrorizing people inside the country.”
She explained, “The Islamic Republic acts as a hostage-taker and at the same time wants to be trusted by the rest of the world. My brother was not involved in any political activity, and yet he has been detained just to put pressure on me.”
The Intelligence Ministry’s agents also raised the house of Alinejad’s ex-husband in Babol in northern Iran. He was outside the country, but his brother Hadi Lotfi, his sister Leila Lotfi, and a family friend were arrested.
Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, wrote Wednesday, “The state’s systematic attack on activists’ families reveals the inhumane tactics they use to muzzle criticism of state policies. Targeting family members is expected from mafias, not law-abiding governments.”
She lied. It’s 2023 and we all know that neither her or her brother spent one day in jail in Iran or anywhere else.
She is using this lie to get access to the blocked monies of those that the US Government has sanctions on. She’s a fraud and fake and we all hope, we Iranians in Iran, hope she is prosecuted and imprisoned – in Guantanamo.
Mockingbird,
Quite a personal attack. Let’s see some evidence to back it up.
S.
IRI mullahs are acting like wounded animals in the cage, which is just a step up from acting like animals any other time