Behnam Mousivand Summoned to Serve Prison Sentence; Punishment for Participation in December 2017 Protests Three Years Ago
Behnam Mousivand, a civil activist and one of those arrested during the December 2017 protests who was previously sentenced to 6 years in prison by the Revolutionary Court, has been summoned to serve this sentence.
This civil activist announced on Tuesday, June 6, by posting an image of the notice on his Twitter account that he has 5 days to report to the enforcement of sentences office to serve a 5-year prison sentence. According to the issued notice, he must report within the specified time to Branch 1 of the Enforcement of Sentences Office of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office of District 33 to serve his sentence.
In another section of the summons issued to Mr. Mousivand, it states that he will be arrested if he fails to appear within the specified time.
Behnam Mousivand, along with eight other detainees from the December protests, was sentenced in early September 2019 by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, to six years in prison on charges of “assembly and conspiracy with intent to act against national security” and “propaganda activity against the government.” This sentence was upheld in Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals, and according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, only five years of his prison sentence will be enforceable as the most severe punishment.
In part of the court ruling issued for these civil activists, it stated that these individuals participated in the street protests in December, published news from “media hostile to the system” in cyberspace, and through this called for organizing “illegal gatherings.”
In December 2017, protests initially began over price increases in Mashhad and subsequently spread to over one hundred Iranian cities, witnessing demonstrations against the system and Khamenei. In these heavily suppressed protests, more than 20 people were killed.
This ruling is being implemented by the Iranian government at a time when the coronavirus outbreak has not been fully controlled in Iran, and numerous reports about the spread of this virus continue to be published by human rights news agencies. Iranian Islamic Republic officials reported as of Wednesday, June 7, 2020, the death of 7,564 people officially, and the total number of infected persons has reached 141,591.
This is while a World Health Organization official previously stated that the figures announced by Iranian authorities regarding those infected with coronavirus represent only one-fifth of the actual number of infected persons. Official statistics of infected persons and deaths resulting from COVID-19 in Iran, China, and Russia cannot be verified by independent experts and cannot be considered valid and final.
The U.S. State Department says that the Iranian regime has arrested thousands of protesters, civil activists, and representatives of workers and other groups in recent years.
Source: Voice of America
