Human rights

rferl.org – An Iranian appeals court handed a five-year sentence to prominent activist and journalist Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, who has been held since her arrest at the onset of a protest movement, supporters said on July 2. Iraee refused to take part in the appeals court hearing over her sentence for participating in illegal gatherings and violating national security, saying …

rferl.org – The leader of Germany’s Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, said on July 1 that he has been told he cannot visit the German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death. “After several months of processing, my application to enter Iran was rejected. The regime denies me an insight into the prison conditions of the German citizen Jamshid Sharmahd,” …

rferl.org – The family of Iranian activist Manuchehr Bakhtiari is voicing serious concerns over his health following his brief transfer from prison to a medical facility on June 28. Bakhtiari, who is currently held at Chubindar prison in the northwestern city of Qazvin, has been denied access to medical treatment for several months. Bakhtiari became a prominent rights advocate after …

BBC – The mother of a 16-year-old girl allegedly beaten to death by security forces during protests in Iran has spoken of her continuing heartache. In an exclusive interview that appears in a BBC documentary, Nasrin Shakarami says she “cannot forget for a second” what happened to her daughter Nika. Nasrin was speaking to actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who fled …

RFL/RE – The father and sister of Abolfazl Adinezadeh, a 17-year-old protester shot dead by Iranian security forces in October, have been charged with “anti-government propaganda,” according to their family lawyer, Khosrow Alikordi. The charges are in relation with interviews and social media posts by Ali Adinehzadeh and Marzieh Adinezadeh, Abolfazl’s father and sister respectively, Alikordi said. The family has reportedly been …

Irawire – “Daily exercise boosts women’s self-esteem and teaches them that their own well-being should be their top priority. Women should not get lost in the demands of everyday life and neglect themselves. Engaging in consistent daily exercise strengthens this mindset.” These are the words of Mercedeh Shahinkar, a sports coach who lost an eye on October 15 last year …

Iranwire – Elahe Mohammadi and Niloofar Hamedi, two journalists jailed in Iran over their coverage of Mahsa Amini’s death, have been awarded the World Association of News Publishers’ 2023 Golden Pen of Freedom. The 22-year-old Amini died while in police custody in September last year after she had been detained for allegedly flouting the Islamic Republic’s strict headscarf rules. Her …

Iranwire – A child and another person have been wounded during clashes between security forces and Baluch protesters in the south-eastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, reports say.  According to the Baluch Activists Campaign, a UK-based organization covering events in the province, the incident in the city of Sarbaz started after traffic police “unlawfully” impounded a passenger vehicle and imposed …

CHRI – Bolstering a state campaign aimed at crushing dissent, the Iranian Parliament has voted to “investigate” the Iranian Bar Association in a bid to further persecute human rights lawyers who serve as the last remaining lifeline for defendants facing politically motivated charges in the judicial system. “Iranian officials commit blatant human rights violations with impunity, while mechanisms to scrutinize publicly funded state institutions …

Iranwire – A security guard at Allameh Tabatabai University’s Faculty of Management and Accounting in Tehran was caught on video violently assaulting a student, sparking a wave of public outcry. The footage, which went viral on social media platforms, shows the guard pushing the student while on the stairs, causing his head to hit the handrail. Iran’s Student Union Council …