Shabnam Madadzadeh was a teacher in the Tarbiat Moalem University in Tehran. She joined more than 120 students in a sit-in and 12-day hunger strike in 2008. She was then arrested for her connection to the protests and sentenced to five years in prison. Farzad Madadzadeh, her brother, was also arrested and he received the same sentence. This sister and brother were accused of Moharebeh (fighting against God) and propaganda against the regime. They spent their five years of imprisonment without any leave, and now their sister Habibeh has been arrested for going to the prison to welcome their release.
Abdol Ali Madadzadeh, the father of all three, said: “They searched the house of my daughter and confiscated her computer and some of her personal belongings.” The Intelligence Ministry justifies the search, claiming her being in front of the prison gate to welcome her brother and sister is enough to warrant her arrest. Additionally, they question why Habibeh went to her father’s home to see her freed brother and sister.
Two other children of Abdol Ali Madadzadeh are members of People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and they are currently located in Camp Liberty, Iraq. Mr. Madadzadeh stated: “It is because of them that they put such pressure on us.”
