Ali Nouri Zad’s Mother: My Son’s Sentence is Political and Intended to Pressure My Husband
Fatema Maleki, mother of Ali Nouri Zad who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court, announced in an interview with the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that an appeal hearing for her son will be held on Wednesday, the 10th of Ordibehesht, and stated that the sentence issued for her son is political and aimed at pressuring Mohammad Nouri Zad.
Ms. Maleki told the Campaign that her son and others who went to the streets to express sympathy with the families of those who died in the Ukrainian plane crash caused by a Revolutionary Guard missile should be encouraged, not imprisoned.
Ali Nouri Zad is the son of Mohammad Nouri Zad (a political activist and signatory to a statement calling for the Supreme Leader’s resignation) who was arrested on December 22, 2019 during public protests against the downing of the Ukrainian passenger plane by a Revolutionary Guard missile.
Fatema Maleki, Ali Nouri Zad’s mother, told the Campaign in an interview: “On December 22nd when Ali went to express sympathy with the victims of the plane crash, he was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards and interrogated at a military base. One day after his arrest, he was transferred to Evin Prison and 20 days later he was released on 850 million tomans bail. However, on April 9th in an in-absentia trial, he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison on charges of gathering and conspiracy against national security. We consider this sentence more of a political verdict than a legal one, aimed at pressuring Mohammad Nouri Zad, and we absolutely reject it.”
Early Wednesday morning, the Ukrainian plane with 176 passengers crashed minutes after takeoff from Imam Khomeini Airport due to being hit by a Revolutionary Guard missile near Tehran, killing all passengers on board. Officials of the Islamic Republic initially claimed a technical fault caused the crash, but three days after the tragedy, the General Staff of the Islamic Republic’s Armed Forces officially admitted that the Revolutionary Guards’ air defense had made an error and mistakenly targeted the plane. They called “human error” the cause of this horrific tragedy.
On Wednesday, the 10th of Ordibehesht, the appeal hearing for Ali Nouri Zad was held at Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. His mother told the Campaign: “Since the sentence was issued in absentia, the lawyer filed an appeal and today the appeal hearing was held where Ali and his lawyer appeared in court and presented their defense. However, they will probably issue the same sentence again because our judges are subordinate to security officials and take orders from above, and this sentence came from above because my son essentially did nothing wrong. He and the young people who wanted to express sympathy with the families of those who died in the plane crash should be encouraged, not imprisoned. This sentence was mainly intended to pressure Mr. Nouri Zad and we accept neither the charge nor the verdict.”
Ms. Maleki told the Campaign about the charges against Ali Nouri Zad: “They charged him with gathering and conspiracy with intent to disrupt national security. Because I said to my friends that we made plans to go protest and express sympathy. They took that statement and called it gathering and conspiracy. What does gathering and conspiracy mean anyway? Did they plan to set banks on fire? Plant bombs? They only went to express sympathy and committed no crime against national security.”
Mohammad Nouri Zad, Ali Nouri Zad’s father who is imprisoned in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, announced in an audio file released by his wife on Tuesday, the 9th of Ordibehesht, that “I am ashamed of my family because they are suffering because of me. In protest of my family’s suffering, I have decided to commit voluntary suicide and news of it may come out in a few days.”
Mohammad Nouri Zad, who has been in detention since July 10th, was sentenced by Branch 4 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court to 15 years imprisonment, 3 years exile to Yazd, and 3 years travel ban from the country.
On June 21, 2019, a letter was published by 14 political and civil activists from Mashhad and Tehran calling on the Supreme Leader to resign and amend the Constitution. Part of the letter stated: “The time has come for people, activists and benevolent thinkers to set aside expedient considerations that have led to the destruction of the country’s culture, civilization and wealth, and openly enter the arena with a clear demand for fundamental changes to the Constitution and the resignation of a leader who daily expands his unlawful authority, and become the pioneers of this national movement.”
Mohammad Nouri Zad, Mohammad Maleki, Gohar Eshghi (mother of Sattar Beheshti), Abbas Vahidian Shahroudi, Kamal Jafari Yazdi, Mohammad Mahdavi Far, Hoviyeh Faraj Zade (sister of Shahram Faraj Zade, a victim of 2009 protests), Javad Laal Mohammadi, Reza Mehregan, Mohammad Reza Beyat, Mohammad Hossein Sepahri, Hashem Khastegar, Mohammad Karim Bighi and Zoroaster Ahmadi Ragheb are signatories of this letter.
Source: Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
