Free Atena Farghadani

Ahead of the trial of activist Atena Farghadani, Amnesty International campaigners gathered outside the Iranian consulate in London on May 18. Demonstrators called for the immediate release of Farghadani, and presented a petition with more than 33,000 signatures.

Farghadani’s trial begins on May 19. She faces charges of “spreading propaganda against the regime,” “insulting members of parliament,” and “insulting the Supreme Leader.”

Revolutionary Guards raided Farghadani’s house and arrested her in August 2014 after she posted a cartoon on Facebook that mocked politicians who supported an anti-contraception bill. The bill also set out to criminalize voluntary sterilization. Farghadani has also supported a range of other human rights initiatives in Iran and was known to have met with the families of imprisoned human rights activists.

Farghadani, who is 28, was briefly released in November 2014, but was soon re-arrested after she spoke to the media about her incarceration and posted a video on YouTube about prison conditions. She went on hunger strike, and suffered a heart attack as a result. Although Farghadani was held in Evin Prison, she was transferred to a detention center after her hunger strike.