Human rights

Radiofarda – Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has once again defended eight Iranian environmentalists who have been in detention for more than a year, charged with vague accusations. Last February, DiCaprio called for international support and circulated a petition for the release of the Iranian environmentalists who were arrested by the intelligence organization of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, IRGC. In …

CHRI – Supporters Barred from Court Room Iranian university student Mojtaba Dadashi, 23, has been sentenced to three years in prison and 74 lashes for sharing a video on social media criticizing the Islamic Republic as “un-Islamic,” the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned.  “This young man was condemned on three charges in a closed trial just …

CHRI – Four staff members of Gam news, an independent Persian-language news channel on the Telegram messaging app, remain in detention three months after being arrested in connection with the channel’s coverage of workers’ rights protests in the southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan.  Correspondent Ali (Amir) Amirgholi, who was arrested on January 16, 2019, remains in detention in Ahvaz Central Prison, in …

RFL/RE – The number of known judicial executions around the world declined by nearly one-third in 2018 compared to 2017, reaching the lowest level in at least a decade, Amnesty International says in its annual report on death sentences and executions.Belarus was among a handful of countries that defied the trend, the human rights group said in the report released …

CHRI – A woman suspected of murdering her husband was sentenced to death in Iran based solely on Qsameh, the state-run ISNA news agency reported Monday. Citing that the case has “procedural and substantive” defects, the woman’s attorney Abdulsamad Khorramshahi who was cited by ISNA said they have submitted an appeal and the case will be reviewed by the Supreme …

Iran-HRM – Imprisoned human rights activist Atena Daemi is being denied visitation, her family members said on Sunday April 7, 2019. When the family on Sunday went to the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran for their New Year’s visit, they were told that Atena was banned from any visit. Daemi has been behind bars in Iran since November 2016, serving a …

CHRI – Newly released from prison, civil rights activist Golrokh Iraee Ebrahimi may have to serve more time behind bars depending on the outcome of another case against her, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned.  Iraee, who had been serving a six-year prison sentence since October 2016 primarily for writing an unpublished story about stoning in Iran, …

Iran-HRM – Iran’s security forces arrested two residents of a village in the southwestern province of Khuzestan for providing aid to the flood survivors. The two, who were taken to an unknown location, have been identified as Ahmad and Yaghoub Ka’bi, residents of Guorieh Village. Ahmad Ka’bi and Yaghoub Ka’bi were working with an aid group in flood stricken areas. …

Iran-HRM – The state security forces have arrested four people in the capital for “spreading rumors” about the incompetence of officials in flood relief efforts, Tehran Police Chief announced Sunday. The SSf commander Hossein Rahimi who was cited by the state-run ISNA state-run News Agency admitted that government officials and commanders of armed forces presumably involved in relief efforts have …

CHRI – Michael White Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment US Navy veteran Michael White was repeatedly taken to court in Iran without an attorney or a translator before he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in March 2019, a family representative told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). During an April 3 interview, the family’s rep Jonathan Franks informed CHRI …