Human rights

Iranwire – The Iranian authorities have sentenced Manouchehr Bakhtiari, the father of a 27-year-old man killed in a crackdown on protests in November 2019, to 18 years in prison and 74 lashes. The human rights network HRANA reported that Bakhtiari, who is incarcerated in Qazvin prison, was informed of his sentence on January 9. The man was given a 10-year …

Iranwire – Iranian judiciary authorities have summoned Mehdi Towhidi, a protester arrested on the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, to court for his final defense.  According to a reliable source, Towhidi faces charges of “gathering and collusion to commit a crime against domestic and foreign security,” “facilitating the means to commit a crime,” and “being a member of a …

Iranwire – An Iranian court has sentenced former bodybuilding champion Khaled Pirzadeh to five years and eight months imprisonment on charges of “gathering and collusion” and “propaganda against the system.” The human rights network HRANA reported that Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court acquitted Pirzadeh of the charges of “spreading lies” and “acquiring illegal wealth.”  If the sentence is …

RFL/RE – The lashes to Roya Heshmati’s body have triggered renewed condemnation of Iran’s harsh punishments against women for alleged crimes against “morality.” But the official reason for carrying out the flogging is also being questioned, while the 33-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman now faces the double jeopardy of having to defend herself against smears to her name. Heshmati announced on Facebook …

RFL/RE -An Iranian-German citizen imprisoned in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison has been released on a furlough, though she has to wear an electronic ankle bracelet that her daughter said makes the situation more like house arrest. Mariam Claren said in a social media post on January 9 that her mother, Nahid Taghavi, was on temporary release, which she hopes “is an important …

Iranwire – Authorities in Tehran are using children to enforce mandatory headscarf rules for women in the city’s metro stations, IranWire has learned.   The information was confirmed by Ali Shafakhah, the head of the Skoda Children’s Rights Committee, who said that “the authorities have now hired children as hijab enforcers.” Shafakhah wrote on the social media platform X that he …

Iranwire – The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has strongly condemned punitive measures imposed on three female journalists incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin prison after they chanted slogans about “unfair sentences” during a visit by high-ranking judicial officials late last month. Following the December 27 protest action, journalists Elahe Mohammadi, Niloofar Hamedi and Nasim Sultanbeigi, among other women prisoners, were deprived …

Iranwire – Mehdi Yarrahi, an Iranian singer who released a song last year criticizing compulsory headscarf rules in the country, has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, as well as 74 lashes, his legal representative says. Lawyer Zahra Minoui announced on January 9 that the sentence was handed down by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary …

Iranwire – Since the beginning of the year, judicial authorities in Iran’s Qom province have amputated the fingers of two individuals convicted of theft, the human rights network HRANA reported. “Regrettably, three others currently face the same inhumane punishment for similar charges,” the US-based group said on January 9. According to the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, which specializes in Iranian human rights research, …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Mohammad Hossein Geravand and Kiumars Gholami, two men on death row for drug-related charges, were executed in Ghezelhesar Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj on 8 January. Their identities have been established as Mohammad Hossein Geravand and Kiumars Gholami who were sentenced to …