Seven Civil Activists Sentenced to 42 Years in Prison

Seven civil activists who were arrested in the winter of 2017 have been sentenced to a total of 42 years in prison by a ruling of Tehran Province’s Court of Appeals. Their common charge is “action against national security” and “propaganda against the system.”

Saeid Eghbali, Behnam Mousavand, Shagayegh Mohammadi, Mezhgan Laali, Saeid Seifi Jahan, Shima Babaei, and Dariush Zand have each been sentenced to six years in prison by Branch 36 of Tehran Province’s Court of Appeals.

According to a report by the Iran Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), each of these activists has been convicted of “assembly and conspiracy with the intent to act against the national security of the country” and sentenced to five years in prison, and for the charge of “propaganda activities against the system” sentenced to one year in prison. Under Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, the heavier penalty (five years imprisonment) will be enforced in their case.

Shima Babaei wrote on Twitter: “The court ruling stated that we intended to disrupt order and security during the Decade of Dawn and that we did this backed by a counter-revolutionary group. My husband Dariush Zand and I were independent activists and had no affiliation with any party or group. Some of us did not even know each other before our arrest.”

Their arrest took place on February 1, 2018, and they were released on bail in March 2018 with bail amounts of 100 million tomans pending trial. The campaign defending political and civil prisoners stated at that time that this arrest was “a nationwide operation by security forces.” Saeid Eghbali was arrested in Kermanshah, Shima Babaei and Dariush Zand in Behbahan, and the others in Tehran. Saeid Eghbali had also been arrested in February 2016 along with Golrokh Ebrahimi, wife of Arash Sadeghi.

HRANA writes that some of those convicted have left Iran and it is unclear how the proceedings were conducted in the absence of the defendants.

Source: DW