Reza Islami, Iranian-Canadian Citizen and Human Rights Instructor, Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison
Reza Islami, a dual Iranian-Canadian citizen and faculty member of the Law School at Shahid Beheshti University, has been sentenced to seven years of imprisonment, a ban from teaching, and a travel ban by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. Mr. Islami was arrested on April 10, 2020, by Ministry of Intelligence forces and transferred to the agency’s detention center known as Ward 209 in Evin Prison. He was eventually transferred to the general ward of Evin Prison after the completion of interrogation procedures.
According to Hrana news agency, the news organ of the Iranian human rights activists’ network, Reza Islami, a dual Iranian-Canadian citizen and faculty member of the Law School at Shahid Beheshti University, has been sentenced to imprisonment and social deprivations.
Based on this verdict issued by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court headed by Judge Abolqasem Salavati and communicated to him last week, Reza Islami has been sentenced to seven years of imprisonment, a ban from teaching, and a travel ban.
The first court hearing to examine his charges was previously held on October 20, 2020, at this branch. Mr. Islami was tried in this session on the charge of “cooperation with a hostile foreign state (America) against the Islamic Republic system through participation in organizing rule of law training courses in the Czech Republic.”
Previously, Mr. Islami’s case was reviewed at Branch 1 of the Evin Prosecutor’s Office Investigation Division. The case involved 15 defendants, of whom 14 were acquitted of the charge of “cooperation with a hostile foreign state,” and Mr. Islami’s case was referred to court after an indictment was issued. Among these individuals, one person’s case was also referred to the public prosecutor’s office on charges of “removing a headscarf in Turkey.”
Some time ago, a source close to Mr. Islami’s family told Hrana regarding the nature of the charges against him: “The court based the charge of cooperation with a hostile foreign state (America) against Mr. Islami on organizing a five-day law course in the Czech Republic. This course was organized by an academic institution for 15 students, and the financial supporter and sponsor of this course was an American NGO and non-governmental, civil society organization, and his contacts at no point had any connection with any individual from the American government. Case investigators believe that this NGO had a relationship with one of the American government institutions, and Mr. Islami stated, ‘Even if this were true, I was completely unaware of it and personally had no contact with any government institution at any level. The imputed crime is completely baseless and groundless. There is neither the material element of the crime, which would be contact, nor the intentional element of the crime, which would be the intent to have contact.””
Reza Islami was arrested on April 10, 2020, by Ministry of Intelligence forces and transferred to the agency’s detention center known as Ward 209 in Evin Prison. After his arrest, his office at the Law School was searched, and several of his personal items, including his mobile phone and laptop, were confiscated. He was eventually transferred to the general ward of Evin Prison after the completion of interrogation procedures.
Gholamhossein Esmaili, spokesperson for the Judiciary, confirmed the arrest of this university professor on Tuesday, April 21, 2020. Mr. Esmaili said today during his press conference, in response to a question about the arrest of one of the professors at Shahid Beheshti University: “The arrest did not take place at the university, and the presence of agents at the university was because after the individual’s arrest, he admitted and confessed during interrogation that some of his criminal documents were kept in his office and university in his laptop; we went and took these documents from his office. When a person claims that criminal documents are in his office, we must take them; or should we also not go to defuse a bomb?!”
Reza Islami, son of Gholam Ali, born in 1963, married, father of two children, resident of Tehran, and a dual Iranian-Canadian citizen. Mr. Islami holds a Ph.D. in Law from McGill University in Canada and is one of the professors of human rights and environmental law at Shahid Beheshti University.
Mr. Islami has more than 70 national and international articles in the field of human rights. He has also authored and translated more than 10 books in the field of human rights.
Source: Hrana
