Zia Nabavi, Imprisoned Student from 2009 Elections, Arrested Again
Zia Nabavi, a political activist and one of the students imprisoned following the 2009 elections, has been arrested once again. It is still unclear what charges he faces and which organization’s officers carried out the arrest. Zia Nabavi has spent more than 8 years in prison over the past years.
Zia Nabavi, a political activist and graduate student of sociology at Allameh Tabatabai University, was arrested again by security forces at his home in Tehran this morning, Tuesday, the sixth of Esfand 1398 (February 25).
The United Students channel published the news of the arrest of this former political prisoner. The reason for Mr. Nabavi’s arrest and his place of detention remain unclear.
The Edalat News Telegram channel also reported that the arrest warrant for this political activist was issued by the Fourth Investigation Branch of Evin Prison’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, noting that it is unclear which security organization’s officers arrested Mr. Nabavi.
Zia Nabavi was one of the students imprisoned following the controversial 2009 presidential election, and was released from prison in 2017 after 8.5 years. His initial sentence following arrest was 15 years imprisonment and 76 lashes. This sentence was changed in the appellate court to 10 years imprisonment in exile. Mr. Nabavi spent his imprisonment in Karun and Semnan prisons.
It has been reported that during this morning’s arrest at his home, officers also searched his belongings and took some items with them.
The reason for Mr. Nabavi’s arrest remains unclear. About 10 days ago, Bahareh Hedayat, a political activist and one of the students imprisoned following the 2009 elections, was also arrested again by Tehran police security officers and was temporarily released on bail after being transferred from the Ministers’ detention center to Qarchak Prison in Varamin.
Following the events of December 2017 that led to the arrest of several students, Mansour Ghlamian, Minister of Science, sent a letter to Hassan Rouhani, the president, requesting his help in following up on the situation of these students.
Source: DW
