Change for Equality: Zhina Modaress Gorji, Campaign member in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province was barred from travel on Friday November 14, as she was on her way to Duabi, UAE. In an interview with the site of Change for Equality, Zhina explained: “I had planned to travel to Dubai and I had completed all the various levels of exit at the airport and had received an exit stamp on my passport. But after passing through the gate and a few minutes before boarding the plane I heard my name called on the airport PA system. I was told not to board the plane. A few minutes later a security officials in plain clothes approached me, who confiscated my passport. After a few minutes I approached the police at the airport, who are in charge of banning citizens from travel. They told me that they had no authority in my case, and that I was stopped by security officials associated with the Office of the President. Finally, the security official explained that I was barred from travel because of a court order and as such I was not allowed to exit the country. They confiscated my passport and told me that I had to go to the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj. “

Gorji explained further that prior to this she had not received any written summons from the courts, but that she had been summoned by phone to the local office of the ministry of intelligence in Sanandaj. Because telephone summons are not legal, Gorji explained further that she refused to go the local office of the intelligence ministry.
This women’s rights activist further explained that: “besides being involved in the Campaign, I work with several official papers in Sanandaj. I have also worked on violence against women and the issue of female genital mutilation in Kurdistan. None of these activities are identified as illegal within Iranian law. But it seems that these actions are intended to increase the pressure on social activists, including emotional and psychological pressure, which are followed by a complicated and unclear judicial process, and work to prevent the progress of women’s rights activists.”

Prior to this several other women’s rights activists have been barred from travel, including most recently Campaign activist Hayedeh Tabesh in Isfahan.