Social and Political

VOA – Iran has imposed harsh sentences on 36 residents of a southwestern city who joined the nation’s last major wave of anti-government protests in November 2019, according to a knowledgeable source who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.    Speaking to VOA from Iran on Friday, the source said the 36 protesters from Behbahan in Khuzestan province were handed their sentences by …

Iran-HRM – The security forces’ direct and indiscriminate shootings over the past month has led to the death of six people including a 17-year-old child, and 11 being injured in various Iranian cities.Iranian security forces have a history of shooting and killing ordinary citizens. They carry out these attacks with impunity, especially against ethnic minorities such as Kurds and Baluchis. …

Iran-HRM – Reports from inside Iran indicate that a wave of arrests over the past month has increased the already large number of prisoners in Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj. Iran Human Rights Monitor has received reports that some 2,000 detainees have been transferred to Qezel Hesar Prison over the last month. That is over 500 new admissions per week. …

Shabtabnews – In a twitter statement The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor condemned the Iranian regime’s execution of political prisoners stating “often following unfair trials & forced confessions. Just like Ayatollah Khomeini’s “Death Commissions” in 1988, there are no transparent investigations into the regime’s killings. History should not keep repeating itself..” The statement also stated that ” Up …

Shabtabnews – In a twitter statement The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Iranian political prisoners. The United States calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Iranian political prisoners, including peaceful activists like Nasrin Sotoudeh and Narges Mohammadi, who are enduring harmful prison conditions and exposure to COVID19.— Bureau of …

gatestoneinstitute.org – In 2012, [Nasrin Sotoudeh] received the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for her work, which included representing dissidents arrested during mass protests in 2009, an effort for which she previously served three years in prison. She has also represented convicts on death row for offenses committed as minors. She is perhaps most famous for her defense of women’s rights, …

Radiofarda – Following the release of a video of security forces beating a citizen to death in the North Khorasan province Esfarayen, the province’s Military Prosecutor, Mojtaba Zare’, said that the victim’s family had filed a complaint entitled “shooting led to the murder.” Iran–A slogan painted on the wall in a street says: “Who should we call when the police …

Radiofarda – A member of the Iranian Supreme Medical Council, Hossein Gheshlaghi, says the number of coronavirus victims in Iran is three to four times higher than the official figures announced by the country’s Ministry of Health. The state-run Mehr news agency cited Gheshlaghi as saying that anybody can obtain the new statistics through “field reports of the medical staff.” …

RFL/RE – The founder and manager of Iran’s main video-sharing platform, referred to by some as Iran’s YouTube, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of “encouraging corruption” over a video posted by a user. In the video posted on Aparat.com last year, children were asked whether they know how they were born, Iranian media reported. …

Iran-HRM – The Great Tehran Penitentiary detainees arrested during the protests in November 2019 have been sentenced to a total of 159 years in prison. The state-run Ensafnews.ir reported that more than 50 detainees in the Great Tehran Penitentiary who had been arrested in November 2019, have been sentenced to a total of 159 years in prison. Those arrested include …