We have conducted an interview with a young women's rights activist Nasrin Afzali after she was sentenced by the judiciary to six months imprisonment and ten lashes.
Rooz (R): Given that a majority of those who were arrested with you last winter were acquitted, why do you think you received a sentence of six months imprisonment and ten lashes?
Nasrin Afzali (NA): When I first heard of the sentence I thought my attorney was joking. Prior to the sentence, attorney Mostafaei had told me that there was a good chance for acquittal. But we really did not expect it. After all, you can't expect anything here, whether on human rights, the nuclear issue, or women's issues.
R: When you became aware of the verdict, could you picture yourself behind bars, or do you think the issue will be resolved in the appeals process?
NA: I think this sentence is aimed to terrorize me and it will change in the appeals process. I don't think this sentence was issued on any (solid) basis so that we can examine and discuss it.
R: How terrified are you?
NA: Very! [with sarcasm!] Not at all. Not only has this sentence not lessened my determination in my cause and made me limp with a cane, it has actually given me more determination. Such sentences demonstrate their [officials'] confusion and frustration regarding women's issues. With the momentum of the women's rights movement, every day more people across the country join it. Even if they can jail ten, a hundred, or several thousand people, they can't jail several million. In any case, these demands are becoming so popular and publicized that they can't silence them with these actions.
R: In your opinion, where would the government's costly confrontation with women's legitimate demands take us?
NA: The phenomenon of feminism and women's rights has entered the popular discourse and everyone is talking about it in the different social groups. The issue is no longer an intellectual exercise that is discussed among intellectuals and the elite. It is alive among the public now. So their resistance and obstacles do not really make much difference. However many anti-feminism programs they want to air, and however much in millions or billions they want to spend on this, it won’t make a difference. Eventually they will have to start thinking about women's issues and find solutions for them. I believe that one day they will be forced to allow grassroots organizations that spring up to solve people's problems to do their work and then people will start solving their own problems. Alternatively, the more they try to resist them, the closer we get to the boiling point, the consequences of which will have to be paid by them in the end.
