Oppressing Women in Iran

When a madman shot up a mosque in New Zealand, the land of millions of sheep, prime minister Jacinda Ardern beclowned herself by donning a hijab. She supposedly did it in solidarity with Muslim victims. In truth, she was legitimizing an instrument of female oppression. Forcing women to wear the hijab is oppressive. Those of us who are opposed to female oppression are also opposed to forcing women to wear the hijab.

In Iran, of course, a woman who takes off her hijab can be imprisoned. And likely tortured. One rarely reads stories of Iranian injustice and brutality, because the Obama administration chose to side with Iran and anti-Semitic terrorism, as against Saudi Arabia and Israel. Thus, the bien pensant leftist media has shut down the story... because it does not fit the narrative of Russian collusion.

So, we hear a lot about the brutality of the Saudi regime. We just heard, from Democratic senate candidate Bernie Sanders that Israeli prime minister Netanyahu is a racist… which is presumably worse than the anti-Semitic slobber that leading Democrats are putting out on a daily basis.

Naturally, we are heartened by the Trump administration efforts to right the balance of powers, especially its most recent efforts to shut down the Iranian oil export market. For which Trump will get absolutely no credit.

Anyway, Amnesty International is reporting on the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian human rights activist who has been sentenced to decades in prison for defending women who choose to take off the hijab, among other things.

Here is the story:

Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested at her home on 13 June 2018. This week, she was informed by the office for the implementation of sentences in Tehran’s Evin prison where she is jailed that she had been convicted on seven charges and sentenced to 33 years in prison and 148 lashes. The charges, which are in response to her peaceful human rights work, include “inciting corruption and prostitution”, “openly committing a sinful act by... appearing in public without a hijab” and “disrupting public order”.

To its credit, Amnesty International is on the case:

The sentencing of prominent Iranian human rights lawyer and women’s rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh to 33 years in prison and 148 lashes in a new case against her is an outrageous injustice, said Amnesty International today.

The sentence, reported on her husband Reza Khandan’s Facebook page, brings her total sentence after two grossly unfair trials to 38 years in prison. In September 2016, she had been sentenced in her absence to five years in prison in a separate case.

“It is absolutely shocking that Nasrin Sotoudeh is facing nearly four decades in jail and 148 lashes for her peaceful human rights work, including her defence of women protesting against Iran’s degrading forced hijab (veiling) laws. Nasrin Sotoudeh must be released immediately and unconditionally and this obscene sentence quashed without delay,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director.

“Nasrin Sotoudeh has dedicated her life to defending women’s rights and speaking out against the death penalty - it is utterly outrageous that Iran’s authorities are punishing her for her human rights work. Her conviction and sentence consolidate Iran’s reputation as a cruel oppressor of women’s rights.”

We await the voice of Jacinda Ardern, and of all the feminist flunkies who were proclaiming her the voice of a new kind of world leadership. Hah!