Category: Freedom of Expression

Amir Abbas Azarmvand Sentenced to Four Years and Three Months In Prison

Posted on by A MN
Freedom of Expression, News
Amir Abbas Azarmvand, Judge Afshari

Recently, the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced journalist and workers’ rights activist Amir Abbas Azarmvand to four years and three months in prison. As a complementary punishment, he was banned from leaving the country and from membership in any political group for two years. If the verdict is upheld on appeal, the three year and seven month sentence on one count will be enforceable, per Article 134 of the Penal Islamic Code.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran headed by Judge Afshari notified him of his conviction. He has been sentenced on charges of “assembly and collusion to act against national security”, and eight months on the charge of “propaganda against the regime”. The court session was held on January 8, 2022, and he was notified about the conviction later.

On September 1, 2021, security forces arrested Azarmvand at his home. On September 23, 2021, he was released on bail.  At the time, the courthouse told his family that the bail was 500 million tomans (118,000 USD). However, when they attempted to reduce the bail, which they could not afford, they were told that he was still under interrogation and that, for now, no bail will be accepted.

Azarmvand has two other arrests due to his civil activities in December of 2018 and in January of 2021.

Narges Mohammadi Transferred to Qarchak Prison

Posted on by A MN
Freedom of Expression, News, Women
Defenders of Human Rights Center, Narges Mohammadi

Narges Mohammadi, the spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, was transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin City. In November of last year, she was arrested in Karaj City and has since been held in Ward 209 of Evin Prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, her husband, Taghi Rahmani, confirmed the news and commented that his wife has not made a phone call since her relocation to Qarchak Prison, which raises concerns.

On November 16, 2021, she was arrested by security forces during her attendance at a ceremony honouring Ebrahim Ketabdar, who was killed by security forces in Karaj during the November 2019 protests. She was detained in a solitary confinement cell in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. On November 22, 2021, she was notified about the charges in Evin courthouse.

On December 29, 2021, security agents raided and searched her house and confiscated some of her personal belongings.

She has already faced other arrests and convictions and was imprisoned from May 5, 2015, until October of last year, Narges Mohammadi was imprisoned.

In May of 2021, Branch 1177 of the Criminal Court in the Ghods Judicial Complex in Tehran sentenced Mohammadi to 30 months in prison and 80 lashes, as well as fines. She was charged with “propaganda against the regime through the issuance of a statement against the death penalty”, “sit-down strike at prison office”, “property destruction by breaking glass” and “libel and assault”.

According to a report published by HRANA, in an open statement, Mohammadi stated that she will not, “under any circumstances”, attend any court hearing, and will refuse to accept any verdict from the judiciary courts.

In December 2019, Mohammadi and seven other political prisoners in the women’s ward of Evin Prison announced in a letter that they would go on a sit-down strike in support of bereaved families who lost loved ones in November 2019 national protests. Evin Prison officials threatened to deport her and others who participated in the strike to prisons known for their harsher conditions. Subsequently, she was punitively transferred from Evin Prison to Zanjan Prison in December 2019.

Based on Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code and the charges against her, the severest punishment of 10 years was enforceable, but after five years and six months in prison, Mohammadi was finally released from Zanjan Prison. Mohammadi has since been denied a passport and barred from leaving the country to visit her husband and children even though her previous conviction did not mention a supplementary ban on international travel.

Armin Esperlous Sentenced to One Year In Prison

Posted on by A MN
Freedom of Expression, News
Armin Esperlou, Faranak Jamshidi

On January 15, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj sentenced Armin Esperlous, resident of Sanandaj City, to one year in prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa, Esperlous, an environmental activist, was sentenced on the charge of “collaboration with an anti-regime political party”.

On September 29, 2021, Esperlous was arrested by security forces and transferred to a detention centre at the disposal of the Ministry of Intelligence. After 20 days of interrogation, he was released on bail of 150 million tomans (35,700 USD) pending further legal proceedings.

His first trial was held on December 12, 2021.

On March 17, 2020, in another legal case, he was charged with “propaganda against the regime” and sentenced to three months in prison.

His wife, Faranak Jamshidi, was also jailed in Sanandaj’s correctional prison. After two months, she was released on bail.

Poet Ghasem Bahrami Arrested

Posted on by A MN
Freedom of Expression, News
Ghasem Bahrami

Ghasem Bahrami, a critic, poet and resident of Mashhad City, was arrested while leaving the country. On September 15, 2021, security forces arrested him. He was released on bail in October.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Student News Network, a security institution-affiliated media outlet, Bahrami was arrested while attempting to leave from the northwest border of the country.

The report did not mention any reason for this arrest.

Bahrami is known for expressing political views through his poetry.

The Court of Appeals Upheld the Order of Seizure of Fatemeh Mosanna and Hassan Sadeghi’s House

Posted on by A MN
Freedom of Expression, News, Prisoners
Fatemeh Mosanna, Ferdos Mahboobi, government seizure of personal property, Hassan Sadeghi, politcal prisoners

The Court of Appeals of Tehran Province upheld the initial order to seize the personal property of two political prisoners, Fatemeh Mosanna and Hassan Sadeghi. Recently, agents of Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order seized the couple’s house. The two prisoners have been sentenced by the Revolutionary Court to a combined 30 years in prison, seizure of personal properties, namely their shop and house. In March 2019, their place of business was seized by court order.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the Court of Appeals of Tehran Province upheld the order to seize the house of Mosanna and Sadeghi, who are currently serving time in Rajai Shahr. Currently, their children and Mosanna’s mother are residing in the house. It is their only shelter. Mosanna’s 90 year mother, Ferdos Mahboobi, was operated on three times in recent years and suffers from dementia and osteoporosis.

“The agents went to their house with an eviction order. They told the agents: “this house is the last thing you have left for us, and if you want eviction, you have to throw our stuff into the street,” an informed source told HRANA.

The whole family was arrested, on January 28, 2013, following the funeral of Sadehgi’s father, a dissident against the regime. Their daughter and son, who was underage, were also arrested and interrogated. They were released after three days and 45 days respectively.

Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced each member of the couple to 15 years in prison and the seizure of personal property (both shop and house). This verdict was upheld on appeal.

On September 30, 2015, Mosanna was arrested and sent to Evin Prison to endure her sentence. On February 7, 2016, Sadeghi was arrested and sent to Rajai Shahr Prison after he went to Evin Prison to visit his wife.

Currently, Sadeghi is spending the ninth year of his sentence. His request for a retrial, for both him and his wife, has been dismissed twice by the Branch 33 of the Supreme Court of Iran.

In May of 2021, Mosanna was dispatched to a hospital from prison due to intestinal bleeding.

In 1980, while Mosanna was only 13 years old, she was arrested along with her mother and jailed for three years. During this period, her three brothers Ali, Mostafa and Morteza as well as the wife of one of her brothers were executed in prison for the charge of “enmity against God” and “advocating for The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran”.

Sadeghi was arrested in 1981 and jailed for six years. He was beaten harshly in prison by prison agents. He still suffers from the effects. Despite currently suffering from glaucoma, heel bone fracture in both feet, and ulcer, he has been denied adequate medical treatment and hospitalization outside the prison for no compelling reason.

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Verdict Against Hamed Mortazavi Upheld by the Court of Appeals

Posted on by A MN
Freedom of Expression, News
Bebhaban City, Hamed Mortazavi, Mahshahr City, Mohsen Qara’ati

Branch 17 of the Court of Appeals of Khuzestan Province upheld the verdict against Hamed Mortazavi, who was sentenced by the Revolutionary Court of Mahshahr City to four years and six months in prison and a ban from leaving the country.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the resident of Bebhaban City received eight months for the charge of “propaganda against the regime”, one year and forty days for the charge of “offensive statements against the former and current supreme leader of Iran”, and two years and seven and half months for the charge of “membership in groups and gathering of more than two people in intention to disturb national security”. Moreover, he has been banned from leaving the country for two years and is required to study a book of Mohsen Qara’ati (an Iranian Shia cleric) within six months and pass an exam on it.

From these charges, ground in Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, the severest punishment namely two years and seven and half months for the third charge is enforceable. In the initial trial, he was acquitted on the count of “blasphemy”.

On October 31, 2017, intelligence agents arrested and transferred him to a detention centre at the disposal of the Ministry of Intelligence in Behbahan City. The next day, he was sent to Behbahan Prison. It is said that during interrogation, he was subjected to torture and beating. After a while, he was released on bail until the end of legal proceedings.

Shadi Gilak Sent to Evin Prison to Serve One Year Sentence

Posted on by A MN
Freedom of Expression, News
Arash Johari, Moghaddas Courthouse, Shadi Gilak

On January 8, Shadi Gilak, wife of imprisoned worker’s rights activist Arash Johari, was sent to Evin Prison to serve a one year sentence.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on January 8, Shadi Gilak, a resident of Tehran, was jailed in Evin Prison. He had been sentenced to one year in prison by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court on the charge of “propaganda against the regime”.

She had been summoned to appear at the Executive Unit of Moghaddas Courthouse to be arrested and serve her conviction.

Gilak is the wife of Arash Johari, the worker’s rights activist who is currently spending his conviction in Evin Prison.

Civil Activist Yashar Tabrizi Arrested By Security Forces in Tehran

Posted on by A MN
Freedom of Expression, News
Akbar Gholizadeh (Yashar Tabrizi), Robat-Karim, Yashar Tabrizi

On January 8, civil activist Yashar Tabrizi was arrested by security police agents and transferred to Robat-Karim Detention Center. Earlier on that day, he had published a post on social media from his visit to the Ukraine plane crash site in memorial of the victims.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Tabrizi has faced other arrests by security forces. On April 7, 2021, he was arrested for one day in Isfahan along with some victims’ families of the crashed Ukrainian plane as well as other civil activists.

An informed source told HRANA that, “at 7 A.M., Mr Tabrizi called his family and told them that he was detained in the detention centre in Robat-Karim. He was arrested by the order of the prosecutor and would be released after a few hours. At 11 a.m., his wife went to Robat-Karim Detention Center and they confirmed that he was there”.

On 8 January 2020, Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by IRGC’s missile shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport. After a few days of covering up the cause of this incident, the regime admitted that the plane was hit by a missile shot from an anti-missile defense base. Since then, the victims’ families have been demanding the trial of perpetrators of this incident.

Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sentenced to Death Penalty By the Revolutionary Court

Posted on by A MN
Executions, Freedom of Expression, News
Death sentence, Mohammad Javad Vafaei

Political activist, Mohammad Javad Vafaei was sentenced to death by Mashhad’s Revolutionary Court on the charge of “spreading corruption on earth”.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Branch 4 of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad sentenced Vafaei to death.

His lawyer Babak Paknia stated that according to the indictment letter, his client has been charged with “spreading corruption on earth through destruction of government property.”

Vafaei, 26 years old and a boxing coach was arrested in March of 2020 by security forces in Mashhad city.

Earlier, he was granted a high bail which he could not afford to provide and hence has been in jail since the arrest.

Zahra Mohammadi Sent to Jail to Serve Five Year Sentence

Posted on by A MN
Environment, Freedom of Expression, News

On January 8, civil activist Zahra Mohammadi was sent to the women’s ward of the Correctional Center of Sanandaj City to endure her five year imprisonment.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa, Mohammadi was arrested by security forces on May 23, 2019. After more than six months in detention, she was released on a bail of 700 million tomans (166,600 USD) on December 2 of that year.

In July 2020, Branch 1 of Sanandaj’s Revolutionary Court sentenced her to 10 years in prison on the charge of “organizing people with intention to disturb national security”. In February of 2021, this verdict was reduced to 5 years on appeal. Her request for a retrial was rejected by the Supreme Court of Iran.

Mohammadi, 29 years old, is a member of the cultural association Nojin which is engaged in environmental activities, forest protection and Kurdish language teaching.