Human rights

RFL/RE – An Iranian woman who inspired antihijab protests by removing her obligatory Islamic head scarf in a public gesture of defiance says has been sentenced to one year in prison but pardoned by the supreme leader, her lawyer says. Lawyer Payam Derefshan said on April 14 that a court sentenced Vida Movahed in March after finding her guilty of …

RFL/RE – About a year ago, Iran blocked the highly popular messaging app Telegram, an encrypted tool that half the country’s 81 million people used for sharing news and information, debating in private, and conducting business.Authorities had reportedly boasted that “the blocking of the Telegram app should prevent users from accessing it via VPN” — the virtual private networks that …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – According to confirmed information received by IHR, a juvenile death row prisoners identified as Abolfazl Naderi was executed in September 2018 at Arak’s Central Prison. Abolfazl is the seventh juvenile offender being executed by the Iranian authorities in 2018. IHR can confirm information about the execution of Abolfazl Naderi, a juvenile offender who was arrested …

CHRI – The Iranian government and judiciary are intensifying a nationwide crackdown on civil society and beyond, as well as most forms of activism, to stifle any form of dissent, Abdolkarim Lahiji, a prominent Iranian human rights attorney now based in France, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). In a wide-ranging interview conducted by phone on April …

CHRI – Activist Yasaman Aryani was arrested in Tehran on April 10, 2019, after appearing in a widely shared video of women peacefully protesting Iran’s compulsory hijab law in a Tehran Metro train on March 8, International Women’s Day. Her mother, Monireh Arabshahi, was detained the following day after she inquired about her daughter, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has …

CHRI – Agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Organization arrested at least 11 Arab-Iranian volunteers as they were trying to help people in Iran’s flood-stricken village of Gurieh, Khuzestan Province, according to Karim Dahimi, a London-based minority rights activist. On April 7, 2019, nine of them were arrested as they arrived from the city of Mahshahr, said …

Radiofarda – One year after popular messaging service Telegram was banned in Iran in the aftermath of early 2018 mass protests, social media users have been returning to the popular platform. The government suspected that Telegram, and social media in general, were used to mobilize crowds and organize protests in late 2017 and early 2018 in over 100 Iranian cities. …

Iran-HRM – Civil rights activist Yasaman Aryani, was arrested for unknown reasons on April 10, 2019 after the state security forces raided her home in Tehran, her mother announced in a video clip posted on social media. In a short call to her family on the same day Yasaman Aryani informed them that she was detained on a complaint filed …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee was freed on bail from Evin Prison, on April 8, 2019 but she may have to serve more time behind bars depending on the outcome of another case against her. Ebrahimi Iraee was arrested on September 6, 2014 by the IRGC for writing against stoning to death; She had been serving a six-year …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A prisoner was executed at Iranian northern city of Gorgan for murder charges last Sunday. According to HRANA website, prisoner Davoud Mohebzadeh, 36, was hanged on Sunday, April 7, at Gorgan prison. He was sentenced to death for murdering a person during a fight three years ago. The aforementioned execution has not been reported by …