ATENA FARGHADANI

Arts Award | Nominee | Freedom of Expression Awards

Atena is a visual artist using paintings, cartoons, caricatures and conceptual arts to criticize and challenge the policies of the Iranian government. As a result, her work is considered a crime. This has led to years of judicial persecution. Atena was first arrested in 2014 in Tehran, for having met with families of political prisoners and for a cartoon, which satirized Iranian politicians. After being released on bail, she was rearrested on 10 January 2015, for creating “propaganda against the regime” and several counts of insulting Iran's government. She was later sentenced to over 12 years in prison, which was reduced on appeal to 18 months. In May 2016, she was released.

On 7 June 2023, Atena was arrested after posting a political cartoon on her Instagram account. She was later charged with “disturbing the public order.” After refusing to pay bail, she was transferred to Gharchak prison. She was subjected to beatings in prison and her health was severely deteriorated. On 21 June 2023, her lawyer announced that Atena was transferred to the ICU as a result of torture and her ongoing hunger strike. She was later released on bail. On 13 April 2024, Atena was again arrested by intelligence agents, while attempting to post one of her drawings on the Pasteur Avenue wall, where the presidential palace is located. She was later transferred to Evin court where she had a hearing on two cartoons: “propaganda against the state” and “insulting the sacred [the Mahdi, the twelfth Shia Imam].” According to her lawyer, she is being held in Evin Prison and will be brought to a Revolutionary Court. According to her lawyer on 10 June, Atena was sentenced to six years in prison on the charges of insulting holy elements and preaching against the regime.

“The sharpener can no longer sharpen my 3-centimeter pencil. This is the last time it is going to dance on the white paper and it has to be doing its job at its best.”