Nine December 2017 Protesters Sentenced to Combined 50 Years in Prison
Nine civil activists named “Behnam Mousivand”, “Saeid Eghbali”, “Nader Afshari”, “Mahmoud Massoumi”, “Shaqayeq Mohakki”, “Dariush Abddar”, “Shima Babaei”, “Mezhgan Laali” and “Saeid Saifi Jahan” have been sentenced to a combined 54 years in prison by the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
According to the Campaign to Defend Political and Civil Prisoners, each of these nine civil activists has been sentenced to six years in prison by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Mohammad Moghisseh, on charges of “assembly and conspiracy with intent to act against national security” and “propaganda activity against the government”.
In part of the court verdict for these civil activists, it is stated that these individuals participated in street protests in December and published news from “media outlets opposed to the system” on social media, and through this called for organizing “unlawful gatherings”.
In December 2017, protests against price increases initially began in Mashhad and then over one hundred Iranian cities witnessed demonstrations against the system and Khamenei. In these protests, which were severely suppressed, more than 20 people were also killed.
At that time, U.S. officials criticized the suppression of protesters and stated they stood with the demands of the Iranian people.
It should be noted that according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, if this verdict is upheld, only the five-year prison sentence for the charge of “assembly and conspiracy with intent to act against national security” will be enforceable as the primary punishment.
Javaid Rehman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, announced in his second report on human rights conditions in Iran that Iranian authorities intensified pressure against labor union activists, truck drivers, teachers, and factory workers in the past year—those who protest existing conditions—and sentenced them to prison and flogging.
The U.S. State Department also states that the Iranian regime has arrested thousands of protesters, civil activists, and representatives of workers and other groups in the past two years.
Source: Voice of America
