Human rights

rferl.org – An Iranian court has sentenced writer and satirist Kioomars Marzban to 23 years and nine months in prison after convicting him of charges including cooperation with the United States. His lawyer, Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, told RFE/RL on August 24 that Marzban was convicted of cooperating with a hostile state, spreading propaganda against the system, and insulting sanctities and …

iranhr.net – While the world’s attention is drawn to the events in the Persian Gulf, civil activists face a new wave of repression, arrest and long-term prison verdicts in Iran. Iran Human Rights (IHR) urges the international community to react to the recent vast violation of human rights in Iran. “It seems the Islamic Republic are taking disadvantage of the …

iranhr.net – A prisoner was hanged for murder charges at a prison in the Iranian northern city of Sari Wednesday. According to HRANA, on the morning of Wednesday, August 21, a man was hanged at a prison in the Iranian northern city of Sari, Mazandaran province. The man is identified as Abolhassan Ghorbani, 38. Abolhassan killed a man during a …

iran-hrm – Officials in Iran arrested 52 men and women at a mixed-gender “night party” in the northern city of Sari, acording to the state-run Fars news agency, affiliated to the regime’s IRGC. Fars reported Saturday, August 24, that 29 of the detainees were men while the remaining 23 were women. The news agency quoted a “source” as saying that …

rferl.org – As head of Iran’s judiciary for a decade, Sadegh Amoli Larijani held significant power to use the country’s legal system to crack down on dissenters, political opponents, and others. Within months of a new judiciary chief’s appointment in March, Larijani’s political enemies looked to have been hitting back. One of the most prominent members of an influential political …

iran-hrm – Nearly 200 inmates in the notorious Qarchak Prison in Varamin detailed the horrid conditions of the prison in a letter to Tehran’s Director-General of Prisons. They announced on Saturday, August 17, 2019, that they would reject the food provided by the authorities until their demands are met. In their letter to the director-general of prisons, Heshmatollah Hayat al- …

iran-hrm – Labor activist Nasrin Javadi, a member of the Iran Workers’ Free Union who was detained during a Labor Day demonstration was sentenced to seven years of prison and 74 lashes. She was also banned from using a smartphone and similar devices. Her trial was held at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on August 6, 2019. According to the …

radiofarda – The provincial intelligence department in Mashhad in north-eastern Iran says 14 activists who had called on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to resign are advocates of regime change and wanted to bring about insecurity. According to the latest report from Mashhad, 12 of the 14 political activists who demanded Khamenei’s resignation in July have been arrested. However, the intelligence …

iranhumanrights – The 10-year prison sentence issued against British Council employee Aras Amiri was upheld on August 18, 2019, without a hearing, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. “In order to expedite cases, [Judiciary Chief] Ebrahim Raisi has decided that there is no longer a need for the Appeals Court to hold hearings,” Amiri’s cousin Mohsen …

payvand – Four women arrested by agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on August 17, 2019, for trying to enter Azadi Stadium in Tehran to watch a men’s soccer game were released on bail from Gharchak Prison, south of the capital, two days later. But the ban on women in sports arenas-condemned as discriminatory by FIFA and human rights groups-remains …