The Iranian regime has arrested and jailed in solitary confinement 28-year-old Atena Farghadani for drawing a cartoon that authorities say was “insulting” to legislators because she represented them as animals.
This is the same regime that hosts cartoon contests to depict Holocaust denial.
Farghadani was arrested and jailed for six weeks last year but was re-arrested after she spoke about her being beaten and tortured, according to the Human Rights Activist News Agency.
“She’s truly an angel,” a relative of Farghadani told FoxNews.com on condition of anonymity. “She just loves people and animals, and besides for all her artistic talent, she is such a strong supporter of human rights.
“It’s crazy to think her name spread as a result of a cartoon, because she has done so many wonderful things to help humanity, doing things quietly and not wanting credit.”
After she was hauled back into court, Farghadani posted an open letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to her Facebook page and wrote:
What you call an ‘insult to representatives of the parliament by means of cartoons’ I consider to be an artistic expression of the home of our nation (parliament), which our nation does not deserve! I, therefore, must pay retribution for defending my beloved defenseless people.
Fox News said that she may have been hospitalized following a hunger strike and heart attack, and it quoted Amnesty International as saying:
Atena is a prisoner of conscience – she has committed no real crime. She is being unfairly punished simply for exercising her right to free speech, association and assembly. We’ve been calling on Iran’s Supreme Leader and Head of the Judiciary to release Atena immediately. If not, we’ll continue to fight for her freedom.
The judge who will decide her fate is the same one who is hearing the case of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian.
Iran has hanged at least 400 prisoners this year, according to the Iran Human Rights group. and rights groups are campaigning to make sure that Farghadani is not hanged also or even sentenced to a long jail term.