Iran has violated its own constitution by imprisoning Zara Mohammadi, says Swedish MP of Kurdish origin, Amineh Kakabaveh who challenges Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde on political prisoners in Iran and fundamental human rights of Kurds and other minorities.

Amineh Kakabaveh spoke out about Zara Mohammadi's imprisonment on his Facebook profile :

“The imprisonment of the young Kurdish home language teacher Zara Mohammadi has outraged people around the world. Because of this, I have posed a written question to Foreign Secretary Ann Linde about the release of political prisoners in Iran and basic human rights of Kurds and other minorities.

Human rights activist and language teacher Zahra Mohammadi was arrested in early 2021. Zahra Mohammadi had worked for the cultural association Nojin for a long time. His crime was to teach the Kurdish language to children. In the first week of 2022, she was sentenced to five years in prison.

Citizens of the town of Sanandij gave overwhelming support to Zahra's work as a mother tongue teacher, and they protested after the verdict. Hundreds of protesters marched to the prison where she was taken and locked behind bars.

During the ten years that Zahra Mohammadi taught, her work was openly and well known to the authorities. The right to one's own mother tongue is a fundamental right. Since the verdict against Zahra Mohammadi is against the country's constitution, it should be declared void and Zahra Mohammadi should be released immediately.

In 2019, UN Special Rapporteurs expressed great concern when informed of the imprisonment of Zahra Mohammadi and other political prisoners of conscience in Iranian prisons.

Sentencing a young teacher for teaching children the Kurdish language, which is their mother tongue, to five years in prison is a violation of both the United Nations Convention on Human Rights and the Iranian constitution, and that is the closest thing to unspeakable cruelty.

From what we have experienced over the years, we know that what has affected Zahra Mohammadi is not a single case when it comes to the legal uncertainty of women and minorities when translated in court in Iran.

Will Sweden as an individual country and within the EU and the UN pursue the issue of the release of Zahra and other political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, as well as the issue of respect fundamental rights of Kurds and other minorities in Iran? »

Amineh Kakabaveh Independent Socialist MP