Another November 2019 Protester Detained and Sentenced to Prison

Javad Hoseini-Nejad, one of the detainees from the November 2019 protests who is currently imprisoned in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, has been sentenced to 23 months in prison by the Mashhad Revolutionary Court.

According to the Iran Human Rights website, this Mashhad resident was sentenced by Branch 6 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Hossein Bahmana-Abadi, to a total of 23 months imprisonment on charges of “propaganda against the system” and “insulting the leader.” The sentence was served to him at Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad.

This ruling was issued for Javad Hoseini-Nejad while, according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code regarding the consolidation of sentences, if this ruling is upheld by the appeals court, only 15 months of the sentence on the charge of “insulting the leader” as the more severe punishment will be enforceable.

Based on reports released and according to the issued court document, this Mashhad resident faced another charge during his detention: “membership in groups opposed to the system and launching a channel titled regime change and overthrowing the system.” However, the Mashhad Revolutionary Court acquitted him of the aforementioned charge.

Javad Hoseini-Nejad was arrested by security forces on November 28 of last year and was initially transferred to the Intelligence Ministry’s detention center. After interrogation proceedings, he was transferred to Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, where he currently remains detained in Ward 5, which is designated for prisoners convicted of serious crimes such as murder and armed robbery.

This is not the first time the Islamic Republic has sentenced one of those arrested during the November 2019 protests to prison. Previously, Voice of America reported that Abolfazl Nejad-Fath, a student activist and one of the detainees from these protests, was sentenced to a total of 6 years in prison by Branch 29 of the Revolutionary Court on charges of “assembly and conspiracy” and “propaganda against the system.”

Protests against rising gasoline prices began on Friday, November 15, in various Iranian cities including Mashhad, Khuzestan, Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, and Behbahan, and gradually spread to all regions of the country.

The United States says the Islamic Republic directs the country’s wealth toward supporting terrorist groups and destabilizing the Middle East instead of benefiting the Iranian people. The United States has also repeatedly condemned systematic financial corruption and the plundering of Iran’s natural resources by regime-affiliated individuals, considering them among the primary factors in Iran’s economic and financial problems.

Source: Voice of America