On January 3, the sentence of 74 lashes for Roya Heshmati, issued for not observing mandatory hijab, was carried out at the 7th district court in Tehran. This woman, who opposes mandatory hijab, has written a horrifying account of her sentence.
Heshmati stated that she was summoned to the execution of sentences unit on January 3 for the implementation of the sentence of 74 lashes. She said that she went to the 7th district court accompanied by her lawyer.
Roya Heshmati emphasized that she had removed her hijab since passing through the entrance gate of the court building, and in response to the court staff’s admonition to cover her head so as not to get into trouble, she told them, “I have come here for the sake of Hijab and receiving these lashes, I won’t cover my head.”
According to Heshmati’s account, the officer in charge of carrying out the sentence threatened her that if she did not cover her head, he would strike the lashes harder and open a new case against her for not observing hijab, so that she would be sentenced to another 74 lashes.
Describing the place where her flogging sentence was carried out, she wrote, “They opened the iron gate. The walls of the room were made of cement. There was a bed at the end of the small room with iron shackles welded to both sides. There was an iron device similar to the base of a large canvas with a place for handcuffs, with iron shackles worn-out in the middle of the room, and a small chair and table with whips on top, both behind the door. A medieval torture chamber.”
Roya Heshmati continued by stating that the officer put a scarf on her head, “The man took a black leather whip from the bunch of whips behind the door, wrapped it around his hand twice and came to the bed. The judge said: Don’t hit too hard. The man started hitting. My shoulders, my back, my hips, my thighs, my legs, then start over. I didn’t count the number of lashes.”
Roya Heshmati continued by stating that she muttered a chant under her breath during the execution of her flogging sentence.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights explicitly prohibits the use of degrading and inhumane punishments such as flogging, and Iran is one of the few countries that still employs such humiliating punishments.
Roya Heshmati added, “It was over. We came out. I didn’t let them think I was even in pain. They are more despicable than these words. We went upstairs to the judge in charge of executing the sentence. The female officer was following behind me and made sure my headscarf did not fall off. At the door of the branch, I threw off my headscarf. The woman said, ‘Please cover your head.’ I didn’t cover my head and pulled my scarf back.”
According to Heshmati, the judge told her, “We are not happy about this matter ourselves, but it’s the sentence and it must be carried out. If you want to live differently, you can leave the country.”
She wrote that she told the judge, “This country belongs to everyone. Let the law do its own work, and we will continue our resistance.”
The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran strongly condemned this inhumane and medieval act.
In another brutal act, the Iranian regime has sentenced Farzaneh Barzekar, the mother of Erfan Rezaei Navaii, to 24 months of suspended imprisonment.
Erfan Rezaei Navaii, 21, lost his life on September 21, 2022, during last year’s nationwide protests in Amol (northern Iran) after being shot by the state security forces.
