admin-hr, Author at Hrana - Page 28 of 598

Appeals Court upholds Kiumars Marzban’s Sentence of 23-year and 9 Months Prison Term

Posted on October 14, 2019 by admin-hr

kioomars marzban, Kiumars Marzban, satirist, writer

On October 13, 2019, appeals court upheld Kiumars Marzban’s sentence of 23 years and nine months imprisonment. On August 24, 2019, Kiumars Marzban, a detained 26-year-old writer and satirist, was sentenced to 23 years and nine months in prison by the preliminary court in Tehran. Based on the Article 134 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, the charge with the highest penalty will be considered; this means that Kiumars Marzban should serve 11 years in prison.

His lawyer, Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, confirmed the appeals court’s verdict and added that the appeals court hearing was convened without Marzban or his lawyer presence and without hearing his defense. Aghasi said: “We did not receive any response to our appeal statement. For instance, he was charged with “cooperating with a hostile state” while even Iranian authorities consider the organization that he wrote for as a nonprofit organization.”

Kiumars Marzban began his career making short films. He directed eight short film between 2005-2009. He left Iran in 2010 and while living in Malaysia, he hosted a comedy podcast called “Sangtab Radio”. He published few books such as short stories titled “kham bodam, pokhteh shodam, balk eh pasandideh shodam” (I was Raw, I Became Ripe and Pleasant) and “aziz jan” (My Dear).

Kioomars Marzban returned to Iran in 2017. On August 26, 2018, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps officers raided Marzban’s residence, arrested him, and confiscated his several personal items included laptop and cellphone. He is a prisoner at Evin Prison for a year now. His trial was scheduled for March 3, 2020 but it was held in late July 2019 at the Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court. He was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment for “cooperating with a hostile state”, seven years and six months in prison for blasphemy, a year and half imprisonment for “propaganda against the state”, three years in prison for “insulting the Supreme Leader and the Founder of the Revolution”, and nine months imprisonment for “insulting authorities”.

Three Baha’is Were Sentenced to Three Years Imprisonment

Posted on October 12, 2019 by admin-hr

Religious Minorities

Three Baha’i residents of Abadan and Ahvaz, Neda Sabeti (Azadi), Forough Farzaneh, and Noushin Afshar were each sentenced to a one-year prison term for the charge of “propaganda against the state” by the Revolutionary Court of Abadan. On May 6, 2019, they were arrested at their houses and were transferred to Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz on May 30, 2019.

A closed source told HRANA that their case was opened by the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and during their interrogations, they were under pressure for forced confession. On May 6, 2019, they were arrested at their houses by six agents of the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Ahvaz and Abadan. They were released a week after on May 13 but were rearrested for an unknown reason on the same day. They were released on bail on May 30, 2019.

Baha’i citizens of Iran are systematically deprived of religious freedoms, while according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, all people are entitled to freedom of religion, belief, and changes thereof, as well as the right to express and practice those beliefs as individuals or collectives, in public or in private. Though unofficial sources estimate the Baha’i population of Iran at more than 300,000, Iran’s Constitution officially recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not acknowledge the Baha’i faith as an official religion. As a result, the rights of Baha’is in Iran are systematically violated.

Seyed Aram Aminzadeh Was Sentenced to 11-year Prison Term by Appeals Court

Posted on October 12, 2019 by admin-hr

Prisoners

Seyed Aram Aminzadeh, Urmia prison

On October 11,2019, West Azerbaijan appeals court upheld Seyed Aram Aminzadeh’s sentence of 11 years imprisonment. He was sentenced to an 11-year prison term by the preliminary court of the Branch 1 of Urmia Prison.

Seyed Aram Aminzadeh, prisoner of Urmia Prison, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the charge of “propaganda against the state through establishing Salafi groups in cyber space” and one-year imprisonment for the charge of “propaganda against the state”. According to the article 134 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, he should serve the sentence for the charge with the highest penalty which is 10 years.

World Day Against the Death Penalty: Annual Report on Execution in Iran-2019

Posted on October 9, 2019 by admin-hr

Executions

child executions, Death Penalty, Execution, World Day Against the Death Penalty

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- On the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the Center of Statistics of Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) has published its annual report, in efforts to sensitize the public about the situation of the death penalty in Iran.

HRANA’s Statistics Center relies on the work of HRANA reporters, as well as a network of independent and verifiable sources. It also incorporates disclosures to the media by judicial authorities announcing or confirming prisoner executions, and as such is exposed to a margin of error representing efforts by the Iranian authorities to omit, conceal, or restrict the collection of such data.

From October 10, 2018, to October 8, 2019, the death penalty and executions have been the focus of 250 HRANA reports. Over this time period, the Iranian authorities issued the death penalty sentence to 134 individuals and have already carried out 242 executions including 16 public executions.

While execution numbers went down by 5.4% in comparison to the same time last year, Iranian courts have issued 47.6% less death sentences. Public hangings and executions of women have raised 6.6% and 140%, respectively.

Females account for only 12 of the 242 HRANA-confirmed execution victims this year. In addition, five juvenile offenders who were under the age of 18 when they allegedly committed the crime they were charged with, were executed.

The report includes a breakdown of executions by capital offense: 71% were charged with murder, 14% were charged with drug and narcotic offenses, 6% were charged with rape, 5% were charged with armed robbery/offenses classified as “corruption on earth”, 2% were charged with political or security-related offenses, and 2% had unknown charges.

The chart below displays execution numbers by their location in prison or public. According to statistics, 7% of the executions in Iran were carried out in public.

The chart below displays execution numbers by the province in which they took place. According to this chart, Alborz with 25% has the highest number of executions and West Azerbaijan 8% and Kerman 7% are second and third.

The chart below is a distribution of execution information sources. The chart indicates that 72% of HRANA-confirmed executions were not announced by the official Iranian sources. Undisclosed executions are referred to as “secret” executions.

Click here to download the report

A Report of Detained Activists in Mashhad

Posted on October 9, 2019 by admin-hr

Other

Abdolrasoul Mortazavi, Fatemeh Sepehri, Gholam-Ali Hosseinpour, Gholam-Hossein Boroujerdi, Hashem Rajai, Hoorieh Farajzadeh Tarani, Javad Laal Mohammadi, Kamal Jafari Yazdi, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, Mohammad Nourizad, Morteza Ghasemi, Pooran Nazemi Moezabadi, Reza Jangi, Seyed Hashem Khastar, Vakilabad prison, Zahra Soleymanian

14 civil rights activists were arrested on August 11, 2019 in front of a courthouse in Mashhad. They were protesting the 13-years imprisonment sentence for a university professor, Kamal Jafari Yazdi, by his appeals court when they were arrested. Three of them were released on bail and the other 11 people are still in prison.

According to the written judgment published on October 2, 2019, the name of the 14 detained activists are as following:

Abdolrasoul Mortazavi, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, Hashem Rajai, Gholam-Hossein Boroujerdi, Mohammad Nourizad, Reza Jangi, Javad Laal Mohammadi, Morteza Ghasemi, Pooran Nazemi Moezabadi, Houriyeh Farajzadeh Tarani, Zahra Soleymanian, Seyed Hashem Khastar, Gholam-Ali Hosseinpour, and Fatemeh Sepehri.

Houriyeh Farajzadeh was released on bail on September 27, 2019 while Gholam-Hossein Boroujerdi and Pooran Nazemi were temporary released on bail earlier.

Kamal Jafari Yazdi is a university professor residing in Mashhad who was sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Branch 4 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court in mid-April 2019. He was initially sentenced to ten years in prison for “forming an illegal group against national security,” two years for “insulting the Supreme Leader,” and one year for “propaganda against the regime”. The Appeals Court has upheld a preliminary court verdict against him on August 19, 2019. He was arrested to serve his sentence on August 30, 2019. On the verdict of the appeals court, it was mentioned that his sentenced was not reduced because of his interviews and the demonstration of his friends in front of the court.

On August 11, several civil rights activists showed up at his appeals court in Mashhad to express solidarity with him and they were arrested. Men were transferred to the ward 1-6 and women were transferred to the women ward of Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad. They were transferred to the Intelligence Department Detention Center after three days. Fars News Agency also confirmed their arrest. Their case was transferred from Sorkhrud’s Branch 3 of Public Court to the Branch 903 of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad. They were charged with “disturbance in public order” through demonstration, and “propaganda in favor of opposition groups”.

Lay off of 150 Workers of Haft Tappeh and Unpaid Wages of Manjil City Workers

Posted on October 5, 2019 by admin-hr

Labor and Guilds

According to the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-Industry Labor Syndicate, the contracts of 150 workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Argo-Industry have not been renewed. However, Governor of Khuzestan Province denied the cancellation of these workers’ contracts. The new round of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Argo-Industry workers protests started on September 23, 2019, after 21 other workers of the company were laid off.

According to the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-Industry Labor Syndicate, the name of some of the workers who were laid off are as the following:

Fereidoun Hashemi Mahmoudi, Mohsen Heydari Rad, Jasem Bani Chaab, Tofigh Heydari Al-Kasir, Azim Kasir, Peyman Norouzi, Bashir Al-Kasir, Foad Al-Kasir, Mousa Al-Kasir, Mehdi Al-Kasir, Ahmad Al-Kasir Badavi, Mehdi Sahnavi, Samsam Al-Kasir, Hamid Chenani, Seyed Ghasem Parvaz, Ahmad Kord, Hadi Majdian Nasab, Abas Oghabi, Seyed Ayoub Tafahi, Yaghoub Saadi, Seyed Esmail Jaaveleh, Mansour Saadeh, Adnan Mansouri, Hossein Hamdani, and Yousef Khanehshir.

Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Argo Industry was founded in the 1960s in the city of Shush, in Khuzestan Province. It is the oldest sugar factory in Iran. Since 2015 due to the privatization deal based on article 44 of the constitution was transferred to the present owners. It has four thousand workers and employees and is located 15 kilometers south of the Shush city.

In addition, according to the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA), Manjil city workers reported that they have not been paid their wages for three months and have unpaid bonuses of 2018. They were complaining that not only they receive the minimum wage but they feel threatened by a lack of job security and unpaid wages .

A Prisoner Was Found Dead in a Prison in Mashhad

Posted on October 5, 2019 by admin-hr

Prisoners

Asghar Samani, medical neglect, Vakilabad prison

On September 29, 2019, a prisoner who was diagnosed with Tuberculosis (TB) died in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad due to the lack of medical treatment and negligence of the prison authorities.

Asghar Samani was serving time for murder in the ward five of Vakilabad Prison. He was found dead in prison’s restroom at 6 am. According to an informed source, Asghar Samani was diagnosed with TB and prison’s authorities were negligent toward his condition. The source also added that there are at least 600 prisoners in this ward and they were frequently treated with pain killers and psychedelic drugs.

HRANA published a report in February 2019 about the prevalence of TB, lice and bed bugs in Ghezel Hesar Prison after the arrival of new prisoners. They were mostly drug addicts and were transferred to this prison’s general wards without spending some time in the quarantine ward. The prisoners and their families are concerned about the epidemic of contiguous diseases such as TB among the prisoners.

At least Eight Prisoners Were Executed in Karaj

Posted on September 28, 2019 by admin-hr

Executions, Prisoners

Davoud Samkar, Ghezel Hesar prison, li Daravari (Delavari), Mojtaba Soleimani, Mostafa Bakhti, Rajai Shahr Prison

In the morning of September 25, at least eight prisoners who were sentenced to death earlier, were executed in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj. Few days earlier, these prisoners alongside few others were transferred to solidarity confinement cells in Rajai Shahr prison to get prepared for execution for drug-related or murder felonies. 29-year old Davoud Samkar and 33-year old Mostafa Bakhti who were sentenced to death on the charge of murder were executed alongside six other prisoners. They were transferred to solidarity confinement with Ali Daravari (Delavari) and Mojtaba Soleimani. Daravari was returned to his ward after getting more time from victim’s next of kin. The status of Mojtaba Soleimani, the prisoner of the ward 7 of Rajai Shahr prison, is still unknown. According to Iran Human Rights (IHR), four prisoners who were transferred from Ghezel Hesar Prison to Rjai Shahr Prison on September 23, 2019, were executed on September 25. Their names are still unknown.

The news of these executions has not been published by the Iranian media yet.

According to the international organizations, Iran ranks first in the world in executions per capita. Based on 256 reports that have been registered by the Department of Statistics and Publication of Human Rights Activists Association in Iran, 195 death sentences and 236 people with death sentences were executed (including 13 executions in public) in Iran between January 1, 2018 and December 20, 2018. Six of them were juvenile offenders who were under the age of 18 at the time of committing the crime. Secret executions of prisoners reported by the independent sources and the human rights association indicate that 72% of executions are carried out in secret or without any public notice.

Mojtaba Bakhti was among the prisoners who were executed.

Appeals Court Sentenced Parisa Rafiee to 7 Years Imprisonment and 74 Lashes

Posted on September 27, 2019 by admin-hr

Prisoners, Students

Parisa Rafiee

On September 25, 2019, the sentence of Parisa Rafiee was upheld by the Branch 36 of the appeals court. She was initially sentenced by the primary court to a seven-year prison term, 74 lashes. Furthermore, she is banned from leaving the country and membership in political groups for two years. According to the article 134 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, she should serve the sentence for the charge with the highest penalty which is five years.

Parisa Rafiee was studying at the School of Fine Arts at University of Tehran and was arrested on February 28, 2018, by security forces in front of Tehran University. On March 21, 2019, she was released on bail after 23 days of imprisonment in solidarity confinement in an unknown place. She was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, 74 lashes, and banned for two years from leaving the country and membership in political groups by the Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court led by judge Moghiseh on the charges of “assembly and collusion against national security”, “propaganda against the state” and “disrupting public order”. An unknown closed source reported to HRANA that, Parisa Rafiee was mistreated and abused during her interrogations including being sent for a virginity test, being threatened to be tortured or executed. The case officer told her family that she was deprived from her legal rights because she is not cooperating. She was accused of “not cooperating” “denying accusations” in her incitement. Her appeals court was scheduled for June 2, 2019 but after she attended, she was told that according to the order of chief of judiciary, her hearing was canceled, and she will be tried in absentia.

Tohid Ghoreishi Was Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison

Posted on September 27, 2019 by admin-hr

Prisoners, Religious Minorities

Rjai Shahr Prison, Tohid Ghoreishi

Tohid Ghoreishi, Sunni prisoner, was sentenced to a 16-year prison term by the Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court led by judge Moghiseh. His prior sentence was completed in March 2019 after serving five years in prison. A hearing session was scheduled on July 28, 2019 for another case, filed by the ministry of Intelligence.

Tohid Ghoreishi, the former Imam of Friday Prayer of Imam Shafi’i mosque in Talesh was arrested by security forces in Talesh in April 29, 2014. After a year of imprisonment, he was initially sentenced to a 10-year prison term, but this sentence was reduced to 7 years in prison by the Court of Appeals. Later, his sentence was reduced to a four-year prison term per Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, Aggregation of Fines. Although he had finished his prison term in March 2019, he is still a prisoner of Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj.

On September 24, 2019, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison which includes 10 years of imprisonment on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security”, five years of imprisonment on the charge of “supporting opposition groups”, and one year imprisonment on the charge of “propaganda against the state”. Judge Moghiseh did not permit him to defend in the trial. The judge and the prosecutor did not have any accusation on him but threatened him and added that he deserves death penalty.

Social:

Donation

Author: admin-hr