Human rights

RFL/RE – A British-Iranian woman detained for months in Iran on suspicion of planning the “soft toppling” of the government while traveling with her young daughter has been sentenced to five years in prison, her husband said on September 9. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was convicted on “secret charges,” Richard Ratcliffe said, making her the first dual national known to be convicted …

RFL/RE – Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, once in line to become Iran’s supreme leader, has come back from the grave to haunt the Islamic establishment that punished him for openly criticizing the regime’s mass killing of political opponents in the late 1980s. The release of an audio recording made in 1988 of Montazeri lashing out against the authorities for …

Iranhumanrights.org – In less than a month, between August 2 and August 27, 2016, at least 37 prisoners were executed in Iran. Shortly afterwards, the head of the Iranian Judiciary’s Human Rights Council, Mohammad Javad Larijani, claimed Iran was doing members of the international community a favor by executing drug traffickers. Many, though not all, of the victims were convicted …

Iranhumanrights.org – In a letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court, one hundred Iranians living outside Iran, including several prominent civil, academic, and human rights figures, have asked for the recognition of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s prison massacre of 1988 as a crime against humanity. According to the authors of this letter, “the …

Radiozamaneh – Tehran police forcefully dispersed a crowd of cyclists who had gathered in Tehran’s Laleh park for a weekly gathering of the Tuesdays: No Car Day. On 6 Sept, Tehran police prevented green campaigners from holding a group ride in Tehran. Javad Heydariyan, reporting from Tehran says that the police’s action were despite the fact that some government officials …

IOPHRI –

RFL/RE – Iranian media reported that police have shut down more than 800 clothing stores across the country for selling “unconventional and inappropriate” attire — believed to mean Western-style outfits and women’s clothing that doesn’t meet strict Islamic requirements. The reports on September 5 said the raids took place over a 10-day span after authorities first sent official warnings to …

Iranhr.net – An unidentified 22-year-old prisoner was hanged on murder charges in Ardabil Central Prison. The death sentence for an unidentified 22-year-old prisoner, who was charged with the murder of a physician, was reportedly carried out at Ardabil Central Prison on the morning of Saturday September 3. Iranian state-run news agency Mizan confirmed the execution, quoting Nasser Atabati, Ardabil’s public …

Iranhumanrights.org – Labor activists Jafar Azimzadeh and Shapour Ehsani-Rad have been put on trial for allegedly inciting workers to strike. The first day of their trial was held on August 29, 2016 at Branch 101 of the Second Criminal Court in the city of Saveh, 76 miles southwest of Tehran. “This case doesn’t have any legal foundation,” an informed source …

RFL/RE – Prominent student activist and women’s rights advocate Bahareh Hedayat has been released in Iran after spending more than six years in jail, her husband says. Amin Ahmadian,announced Hedayat’s release in a post on Instagram where he said he couldn’t believe that she was finally free. Hedayat was among scores of activists, intellectuals, and reformist figures who were arrested …