Azerbaijani Activist Sohند Moalei Sentenced to One Year in Prison in New Case

Sohnd Moalei, an Azerbaijani (Turkish) civil activist and prisoner, has been sentenced to imprisonment and monetary fines by the Sarab Revolutionary Court in a new case.

According to the Campaign to Defend Political and Civil Prisoners, Sohnd Moalei, a civil activist who was arrested on Thursday, Ordibehesht 12 by enforcement officers with physical violence and insults at his workplace in Sarab and transferred to prison, has been sentenced in a new case by the Sarab Revolutionary Court on charges of “altercation and assault of officials” to one year in prison and monetary fines.

An informed source told the campaign, “The judge issuing this verdict considered the false testimony of the plaintiffs sufficient to issue the ruling.”

Previously, Sohnd Moalei was sentenced by the public and revolutionary court of Sarab County on charges of “propaganda against the system through distribution of announcements by ethnic nationalist groups” to ten months in prison, a verdict that was confirmed exactly by branch three of the appeals court of East Azerbaijan Province, presided over by Judge Bahlol Alizadeh.

Mr. Moalei was arrested on Dey 10, 1397 [December 31, 2018] along with three other civil activists from Sarab named Heydar Mozini, Mohammad Ranjbari, and Vahid Normohammadi on similar charges of propaganda activities against the system through distribution of announcements, and was temporarily released three days later on a bail of 300 million tomans until the completion of legal proceedings.

According to Amnesty International’s report, in 2018, more than seven thousand people, including protest participants, students, journalists, women’s rights activists, environmental activists, labor activists, and ethnic and religious minority rights activists in Iran were arrested, and hundreds were sentenced to prison.

Source: Voice of America