Iranian Artist Beaten in the Street a Year after Incarceration

Sara Shamsaei, a 33-year-old Iranian painter and former political prisoner, was severely beaten in the street by unknown attackers after receiving numerous threats. 

Shamsaei described the October 17 brutal assault in a post on the social media platform X, accompanied by pictures of her face and lips with bruises and hematomas on them.

"While I was waiting in Tehran for a taxi, two individuals on motorcycles pulled up in front of me,” she wrote. “Initially, I thought they might be resting, but one of them dismounted and launched a vicious assault, repeatedly striking me, throwing me to the ground, and mercilessly dragging me along the pavement." 

Shamsaei was detained in September 2022 for participating in anti-government demonstrations and remained in custody for 48 days. The artist launched a 27-day hunger strike in protest of the incarceration. 

Upon her release, Shamsaei faced repeated threats from government supporters, both inside and outside the court. 

The pressure and threats faced by political, civil activists and human rights defenders in Iran and abroad have intensified significantly since the eruption of nationwide protests in September last year.