Civil activist Amirpornang Sarmadi Tehrani arrested without summons and transferred to Babol Prison
The defense lawyer of Amirpornang Sarmadi Tehrani, a civil activist residing in Babolsar, says that he was arrested illegally and without receiving a summons to enforce an arrest warrant and was transferred to Babol Prison.
Ali Sharifzadeh, the defense lawyer of Amirpornang Sarmadi Tehrani, told Voice of America that this civil activist was arrested on Wednesday, December 3 (Azar 12) by security forces in Babolsar without receiving a summons at his workplace and was transferred to Babol Prison to serve his sentence.
This lawyer, who considers the arrest and transfer of Mr. Sarmadi Tehrani to prison illegal, told Voice of America: “Our issue concerns Article 500 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which states that the convicted person is summoned for the execution of a judgment. In the note of this article, it is also mentioned that if there is a fear of escape or hiding, the judge of execution of sentences can issue a warrant with a reason mentioned in the file. However, as far as I am aware, no summons was sent for Mr. Sarmadi; because if a summons had been issued and notified, it would have been sent to me as well.”
Ali Sharifzadeh says his client “had no fear of escape or hiding. His workplace and residence were known, and we did not expect them to arrest him during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.” This lawyer states that a summons should have been issued first, and if Mr. Sarmadi Tehrani did not appear, a summons would have been issued to his guarantor or surety; but unfortunately, these procedures were not followed in Amirpornang Sarmadi Tehrani’s file.
This lawyer also told Voice of America regarding the conviction of this civil activist that Amirpornang Sarmadi Tehrani was arrested in August 2019 by IRGC Intelligence. He was eventually released from Evin Prison on bail of 500 million tomans temporarily and until the end of the trial after his interrogations were completed. Mr. Sarmadi Tehrani was convicted in December 2019 by Judge Salwati, who heads Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, on charges of “gathering and conspiracy against the country’s security,” “propaganda activities against the system,” and “insulting the leadership” to a total of 8 years in prison.
According to Mr. Sharifzadeh, this sentence was confirmed in full in April 2020 by Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals. He added that based on Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code regarding the consolidation of sentences, five years of this sentence as the most severe punishment for this resident of Babolsar has been executed.
It should be noted that this case involved 12 defendants, and the case of two of them named Khaled Pirzadeh and Reza Mohammadhosseini was tried in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court under the presidency of Judge Maqiseh, and these individuals were sentenced to a total of 12 years and six months in prison.
Ali Sharifzadeh, a lawyer who has represented 8 of these citizens, told Voice of America that previously during recent months, prison sentences of three other co-defendants of Mr. Sarmadi Tehrani were executed, and Attalah Rezaei was transferred to Langarud Qom Prison, Sasan Niknafas to Tehran Metropolis Prison, and Yaseen Jamali to Evin Prison.
It should be noted that the judges of these cases, both Judge Salwati and Judge Maqiseh, have been sanctioned by the United States for issuing verdicts that violate human rights and are known for issuing lengthy prison sentences for critics and political activists. Most political and human rights activists in Iran say that these judges, instead of following the judicial process, implement the demands of IRGC and Intelligence interrogators, and sentence the accused to the most severe punishments. The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned the Islamic Republic’s violent treatment of the Iranian people, including civil activists, under various pretexts, as well as the repeated and continuous violation of the rights of Iranian citizens by the regime’s agents.
Source: Voice of America
