Ethnic repression continues in Iran; two brothers sentenced to 5 years in prison for insisting on using local languages

Two brothers in Ardabil were sentenced to a total of five years in prison by the Ardabil Revolutionary Court for emphasizing the use of local and ethnic languages. This is despite the fact that the two brothers were reportedly denied access to a lawyer and the court president did not even allow them to defend themselves.

An informed source said that Ali and Reza Vathiqi Kalhdaragh, two Turkish-Iranian activists who were arrested by security forces at their workplace in late June, have been sentenced to 3 and 2 years in prison, respectively, by Judge Mahdavi-Rad, head of Branch 1 of the Ardabil Revolutionary Court, on charges of "participating in collusion to commit a crime against the country's national security" and "propaganda activity against the system," respectively.

The informed person, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told VOA that Ali and Reza Wasighi were denied access to a lawyer during the court hearing, and although they have not admitted any of the charges, the court president has not allowed the two brothers to defend themselves.

According to available information, Ali and Reza Wasighi were arrested and beaten by the Ministry of Intelligence agents on Wednesday, June 11, when they raided their workplace. They were initially transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention center, and after six days to the Ardabil Central Prison. On June 17, Ali Wasighi was temporarily released after posting a bail of 100 million Tomans and Reza Wasighi was temporarily released after posting a bail of 120 million Tomans until the end of the trial.

It should be noted that at the time of their arrest, after searching the workplace and destroying some of the equipment, the security forces confiscated and took away a number of the personal belongings of these civil activists, including their computers and mobile phones.

This informed source told VOA, noting that Iranian courts are arbitrary and their sentences are predetermined: “The Vathiq brothers have been convicted only because they want to achieve their natural rights in accordance with Article 15 of the Constitution – namely, the use of local and ethnic languages ​​in the press and mass media and the teaching of their literature in schools, alongside Persian.”

This is not the first time that a Turkish-Iranian activist has been arrested by Iranian security forces and faces prison sentences. Abbas Lesani is one of dozens of Turkish-Iranian civil society activists who have been sentenced to long prison terms after being arrested and is currently serving his sentence in Tabriz Prison.