53-Month Prison Sentence of Civil Activist Confirmed by Appeals Court
The 53-month prison sentence of Rezzvaneh Ahmadkhanbeigi, an imprisoned civil activist, which was previously issued by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, has been confirmed by the appeals court.
The Campaign to Defend Political and Civil Prisoners announced on Wednesday, December 20, that the four-year and five-month prison sentence of this civil activist, which was issued in March of last year for charges of “assembly and conspiracy against national security” and “propaganda against the Islamic system,” has been upheld exactly by Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals.
According to the report, the verdict issued by the aforementioned branch was notified to Behfar Lalehzari, Ms. Ahmadkhanbeigi’s spouse, and Hossein Taj, her lawyer.
According to the report, this civil activist, who was temporarily released from Evin Prison in mid-March of last year after depositing 150 million tomans bail pending the completion of legal proceedings, was arrested again on Sunday, November 17, and transferred to Ward 2-A of Evin Prison.
Previously, on December 10, 2018, Rezzvaneh Ahmadkhanbeigi was arrested along with Amirmehdi Sadegh Ara and Ali-Amin Amlashi on joint charges and was sentenced in March of the same year by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court to more than five years in prison.
Amirmehdi Sadegh Ara and Ali-Amin Amlashi were acquitted of “propaganda against the system” charges in this case and were each sentenced to 91 days in prison on charges of “assembly and conspiracy against national security.”
This is not the first time a civil activist in Iran has been sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Previously, Neda Naji, an imprisoned civil activist, was sentenced by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Moghadese, to five years and six months in prison for charges including “insulting government officials” and “assembly and conspiracy.”
According to an Amnesty International report in 2018, more than seven thousand people, including protest participants, students, journalists, women’s rights activists, environmental activists, labor activists, and advocates for minority and ethnic rights in Iran, were arrested and hundreds have been imprisoned.
The U.S. State Department also says that the Iranian regime has arrested thousands of protesters, civil activists, and representatives of workers and other sectors over the past two years.
The United States has repeatedly and in various instances condemned violent crackdowns and widespread suppression of protesters and civil activists, as well as repeated and ongoing violations of the rights of Iranian citizens by the ruling regime in that country.
Source: Voice of America
