Yasmin Hanifeh Tabatabaei summoned; This political activist is going to prison for participating in the commemoration of Cyrus Day
Yasmine Hanifeh Tabatabaei, a political activist and member of the Council of the Democratic Front of Iran, who was sentenced to one year in prison by the Revolutionary Court in late July, was summoned to serve the sentence.
An informed source, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told VOA that the member of the Democratic Front of Iran Council was summoned to serve her prison sentence on Monday, September 14, upon receiving a notice from Branch 1 of the Criminal Execution Division, located in Evin Prison. According to the informed source, Ms. Tabatabaei has been given five days to present herself to the prosecutor's office, and has been warned that she will be arrested if she does not.
Yasmin Hanifeh Tabatabaei, a political activist and member of the Democratic Front of Iran, was arrested on November 29, 2019, on the way to Pasargad in the city of Abadeh and transferred to Detention Center 209 in Evin Prison. After at least 21 days, she was temporarily released from prison after posting a bail of 200 million Tomans, pending the completion of the trial.
This informed source said that on July 19, Yasmin Hanifeh Tabatabaei was sentenced by Judge Iman Afshari, head of Branch 26 of Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Court, to one year in prison, four months of forced labor in a nursing home, and two years of ban on political activity, participation in parties, and gangs, on charges of "gathering and collusion" and "propaganda against the system."
This informed person says that this prison sentence was issued and implemented while Ms. Tabatabaei was deprived of the right to have a lawyer and to object to the issued sentence.
Also, according to this informed person, when Yasmin Hanifeh Tabatabaei went to the Revolutionary Court to receive her sentence, she was met with a harsh and threatening response from the director of Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. There, the political activist was threatened: "If this sentence goes to the appeals court, or you hire a lawyer, or even becomes public, your sentence will be extended."
This informed source, calling the verdict unfair, says: "There is no fair hearing or trial in Iran. The arrest of Yasmine Hanifeh Tabatabaei was illegal and amounted to kidnapping. She was mentally and physically tortured during interrogations, and her treatment was insulting and harassing."
On the other hand, this informed source, who called the issuance of this sentence and its execution hasty, told VOA that Ms. Tabatabaei, who has no hope of changing the time of execution of the sentence despite the outbreak of the coronavirus and its spread in Iranian prisons, will present herself to Evin Prison to execute the sentence before she is arrested without warning.
In an interview with Voice of America, this informed source called on human rights organizations and the international community to "prevent the systematic killing of political prisoners and bring justice to the political prisoners who are being held defenselessly in Iran."
Although there is no occasion called Cyrus Day in the official calendar of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the seventh day of Aban is unofficially dedicated to Cyrus, and every year some Iranians pay homage to the founder of the Achaemenid Empire by attending Pasargadae.
Every year, as November 27 approaches, the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran try to prevent the Cyrus Day ceremony and the gathering of Iranian citizens in Pasargadae by closing the road leading to Pasargadae. However, in recent years, large crowds have gathered around the tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadae on that day, keeping the memory of the Achaemenid king alive.
The US State Department has repeatedly and on various occasions condemned the violent confrontations and widespread repression of protesters, as well as the repeated and persistent violations of the rights of Iranian citizens by the ruling regime in that country.
Source: Voice of America
