Ten-Month Prison Sentence of Civil Activist Sohrand Moali Upheld

The ten-month prison sentence of Sohrand Moali, a civil activist from Sarab County, was upheld in an appeals court hearing held without the presence of this civil activist in the city.

The Campaign to Defend Political and Civil Prisoners reported on Monday, April 22, that the ten-month prison sentence of Sohrand Moali, a civil activist from Sarab County, which was issued by the General Court and Revolution Court of Sarab County on charges of “propaganda against the system by distributing leaflets of ethnic separatist groups,” was upheld exactly by Branch Three of the Court of Appeals in East Azerbaijan Province, headed by Judge Bahlol Alizadeh.

According to the campaign’s report, in a court order issued to Mr. Moali several days ago, it was stated that, given that the appellant explicitly admits throughout all proceedings, and given that the appellant did not appear despite being invited to attend the session for receiving justification and defense during the appeals hearing, no valid objection has been raised, and accordingly, the appeals order is upheld exactly and this ruling is final, based on clause (a) of Article 455 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Mr. Moali was arrested on December 31, 2018, along with three other civil activists from Sarab named Haidar Mezini, Mohammad Ranjbari, and Vahid Nourmohammadi on similar charges of propagandistic activity against the system by distributing leaflets, and was released on bail of 300 million tomans three days later pending 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 minority rights activists in Iran were arrested, and hundreds were sentenced to prison.

Source: Voice of America