Aetna Farghadani attempted to continue a long tradition of political activism via art. In her case it was through a cartoon. This landed her in prison for criticising the Iranian government. Amnesty International is trying to pressure the government to release her. This is not the 29 year old’s first incarceration. She was arrested last August and released. She was rearrested in November due to her public discussion of the abuse she suffered while held.

In an Op-Ed piece for CNN Nazanin Boniadi explains what Farghadani was charged with:

Following a trial in May, the 28-year-old Iranian artist and women’s rights activist was handed an outrageous prison sentence, essentially for drawing a cartoon depicting some members of Iran’s Majles (parliament) with animal heads. The drawing was a form of protest against bills in various stages of the parliamentary process that are aimed at increasing the birthrate by restricting access to contraception and establishing hiring practices that favor married women over single women. I was shocked when I heard that Farghadani had been sentenced to 12 years and nine months in prison, on spurious charges, as Amnesty International notes, of “spreading propaganda against the system,” “insulting members of the parliament through paintings” and “insulting the Supreme Leader” with her cartoon. Amnesty notes that she was also charged with gathering and colluding with deviant groups because “she met with the families of those killed by government agents in the unrest following the 2009 presidential elections, as well as for an art exhibition she held that was attended by members of Iran’s persecuted Baha’i community.”

Free speech and the ability to protest is something everyone should have in their country. Even here in the U.S., where we were founded by rebellion against the ruling government, we have lost some of the understanding for the need to be able to speak out when those who are in power are abusing it.

You can find more information in the Atena fact sheet here.

Atena needs the international community to speak up for her since she cannot. Amnesty asks that you sign their petition to help get her freed.