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Iranian Anti-Hijab Activist Could Face 12 Years in Prison if Deported From
Turkey

Ezel Sahinkaya

   An Iranian anti-hijab activist who fled Iran after being sentenced to
   12 years in prison is now facing deportation while detained in a
   repatriation center in Turkey.

   Nasibeh Shemsai, 36, was arrested at Istanbul Airport on November 5 as
   she attempted to take an Italy-bound flight using a fake passport to
   reunite with her brother in Spain.

   She was initially taken to a police station in Istanbul, then was
   transferred to a repatriation center in Edirne, a border province in
   northwestern Turkey, where she could be sent back to Iran.

   Anti-hijab protests

   An architect by occupation and a mountaineer, Shemsai in 2018 climbed
   Iran's highest peak, Mount Damavand, and took off her scarf in a
   picture in solidarity with "the Girls of Enghelab [revolution] Street"
   who participated in protests against Iran's compulsory hijab in 2017.

   Shemsai was also seen in a [1]"White Wednesdays" video,in which she was
   handing out white flowers to women passengers in the Tehran metro to
   show solidarity with Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent human rights lawyer
   who was recently granted a temporary leave from prison for health
   reasons.

   "White Wednesdays" is a social media campaign against Iran's forced
   headscarf law.

   In May 2019, Shemsai was arrested by the Iranian regime on various
   charges, including anti-regime activities and insulting sacred values
   in Islam. After six months in detention, the court released her on
   parole.

   Last May, Shemsai reportedly went to an Iranian prosecutor's office,
   only to have her identification documents and personal belongings
   confiscated by the Revolutionary Guard. She was told at the
   prosecutor's office about an impending 12-year prison sentence,
   prompting her to flee to neighboring Turkey through smugglers.

   International protection

   In Istanbul, she obtained a fake passport from a human smuggler to
   leave Turkey to reunite with her brother in Spain, according to her
   lawyer. Her November 5 arrest and detention sparked a widespread social
   media campaign by Iranian and Turkish activists demanding that Turkey
   allow her to stay in the country.

   Turkey's Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) said legal
   proceedings were continuing against Shemsai. A [2]press release noted
   that as of Monday she had not requested international protection from
   Turkey.

   Because of a geographical limitation to the Geneva Conventions, Turkey
   grants refugee status only to individuals from Council of Europe member
   states. By that measure, Turkey registers non-Europeans as
   international protection applicants.

   According to the DGMM figures, 3,588 Iranians applied for international
   protection in Turkey last year.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/Peyman_Aref/status/1327989204924706816
   2. https://en.goc.gov.tr/press-release-

.