A petition demanding the release of an imprisoned Iranian artist, who has already been sentenced for 12 years and nine months, is hoping to acquire 20,000 signatures after additional charges of indecency were leveled against her for shaking hands with her male lawyer. Satirist Atena Farghadani, 28, was jailed in June this year for portraying Iranian government officials as goats and monkeys in one of her artworks. Now her sentence is likely to be extended, say human rights activists.

Charges of ‘an illicit sexual relationship short of adultery’ were leveled against Farghadani and her lawyer Mohammad Moghimi after jail officials said that the latter shook the former’s hand while visiting her in jail. Reportedly, it is illegal for men and women to shake hands in Iran and now the duo would be tried for their handshake, largely considered an act of indecency in the country.

Amnesty International had launched the above petition demanding Farghadani’s immediate release with regards to her June conviction. According to the human rights organization, the artist’s trial on grounds of ‘insulting members of parliament through paintings’ lasted for only half an hour and was based on evidence extorted during interrogation. So far, the petition has received over 11,000 signatures.

Farghadani was convicted earlier this year after a court in Tehran found her guilty of spreading propaganda against the system, colluding against national security and insulting members of the parliament through her cartoons. The cartoon, published by Farghadani on social media, was her response to Iran’s plans to outlaw voluntary sterilization and limit availability of contraception.

This is not the first time that Farghadani has been arrested for her artwork. In August 2014, she was arrested for publishing another batch of satirical cartoons on Facebook, for which she was made to serve three months at Evin Prison before being released in November, 2014. It is believed that her relentless agitation in protest over the way she was treated during her first jail term is what led to the significant length of her second sentence.

A month after her release last year, Farghadani wrote letters of complaint to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani and Head of the Prison Service. Upon receiving no response from the concerned authorities, she decided to publish a video on YouTube, describing the ways in which she was ill treated while still in jail. She claimed to have been strip-searched, verbally abused and physically assaulted for what she described as a minor offence.

In January this year, Farghadani was arrested once again. She was sentenced six months later by Judge Abolghassem Salavati, who is infamous for having headed several controversial trials that eventually resulted in executions.

A statement by Amnesty International reads, “Atena's lawyer, Mohammad Moghimi, visited Atena in prison after her trial and shook her hand. The handshake led to charges of an 'illegitimate sexual relationship short of adultery' and 'indecent conduct' being brought against both Atena and Moghimi, who will be tried for those charges in due course. … Iran has pledged to protect free speech, including through artistic activities, as a signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

Farghadani is currently serving her sentence at Gharchak Prison and is believed to have started a hunger strike.

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